PI Public Lecture Series:
Presented by
Title: Cosmology in the 21st Century
Abstract: Revolutionary progress has been achieved in the science of cosmology over the past 30 years. Powerful experiments, made possible by new technologies, have transformed our understanding of the universe. We have unveiled the laws of physics that govern time and space on the grandest scales, from the big bang to present day.
The universe, we’ve learned, is full surprises. For instance, dark matter - the invisible gravitational glue that permeates the vast majority of the universe - remains one of the greatest unsolved puzzles of astrophysics. Nor do we yet fully understand the quantum mechanical nature of the big bang, or the universe’s current transition into a new stage of rapid expansion.
Perhaps most surprising is how remarkably simple these phenomena are to describe, yet so vexing to comprehensively explain. But as the pace of discovery continues to accelerate, so too will our ability to decode these grandest of puzzles.
During his Feb. 4 public lecture and webcast, Perimeter Institute cosmologist Kendrick Smith will take the audience on a journey of discovery through the expanding universe, from the big bang to our present-day understanding of dark matter and other cosmic phenomena. He will explore the yet-unsolved mysteries of the universe, and explain how new research aims to shed light on these deep questions.
Biography: Kendrick Smith’s research tackles some of the most enduring questions in human history: how did the universe begin, what is it made of, and how does it work? Smith is a “data-oriented” cosmologist whose work is a mixture of theoretical physics, computational physics, statistics, phenomenology and data analysis. He has been a key member of several world-leading experiments, including the WMAP and Planck satellites, which have mapped the earliest light of the universe, the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), with stunning precision. He and the WMAP team earned the 2012 Gruber Cosmology Prize, which recognizes researchers “whose groundbreaking work provides new models that inspire and enable fundamental shifts in knowledge and culture.” He has earned PhDs in both mathematics and physics, and completed postdoctoral positions at Cambridge University and Princeton University before joining Perimeter Institute’s faculty in 2012.