(Back to
the menu - click here.)
“Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology “
|
Date: |
Download-files: |
Time: |
|
Thursday, 06. Nov. 2014 |
Audio-only-Recording as MP3-File
(smallest possible size):
- Audio.mp3 (ca.30Mb) ============================================ Video-Recording for any system with MP4-support:
- Video.mp4 (ca.275Mb) |
15:20 – 16:25 |
Abstract :
The field
of cosmology seeks to ask big questions about the Universe. How did the
Universe begin? What is it made of?
How will it
end? The growth in our understanding of the Cosmos over the past 100 years has
been incredible.
Even at the
time of Einstein’s relativity, scientists did not know that anything existed
outside of the Milky Way; whereas
we know
have a basic understanding of everything out to the edge of the observable
Universe.
After a
brief introduction to the modern field of cosmology, I will turn to the recent
hot results in particle astrophysics.
Central
topics of today’s research are the dark matter and dark energy that constitute
95% of the content of the Universe,
and an
early inflationary epoch of accelerated expansion. Recent data provide
intriguing hints of discovery.
Among the
best-motivated dark matter candidates are Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMPs) and sterile neutrinos,
and there
are hotly debated signals in detectors for these two possibilities. Inflation,
which seeks to explain the large-scale homogeneity and isotropy as well as the
oldness of the Universe, produces the density fluctuations that are responsible
for formation of structure as well as gravitational waves. The basic
predictions of inflation have proven true, and individual
models
are now being tested. Most models have been ruled out, and my model of Natural
Inflation is a good fit to all data.
I will
discuss recent excitement about claimed detection of gravity waves at the South
Pole, and will end with a discussion
of future
research directions.