University of Chicago Professor John Carlstrom will present “New Physics with the Oldest Light in the Universe” at a Director’s Special Colloquium Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016, at 10:30 a.m. in the Bldg. 402 APS Auditorium. All employees whose schedules permit are invited to attend.
Carlstrom will speak on cosmic microwave background radiation and focus on our efforts using ever more sensitive detectors and telescopes, such as the superconducting transition-edge-sensors fabricated at Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials for the 10 meter South Pole Telescope, to test the cosmological model and investigate the new physics.
Shuttle service will be provided beginning at 9:45 a.m. with first stop at 201, then 212, 202, 240, 203, 200, 205 and 362. Return trips following talk.
Abstract
Measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation, the oldest light in the universe, have led to remarkable insights into the fundamental physics that govern our universe, from the quantum mechanical origin of the seeds of structure and their evolution, to the rich structure of the universe today. The measurements have led to a six parameter cosmological model that fits most, if not all, cosmological measurements. The model includes new physics such as dark matter and dark energy, and requires that our universe inflated from a speck of spacetime at enormously high energy.
Biography
John Carlstrom is the Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor in the Astronomy & Astrophysics and Physics Departments at the University of Chicago and holds a joint scientist appointment with the High Energy Physics Division at Argonne. He leads the South Pole Telescope project, which he uses to investigate the make-up and evolution of the universe through measurements of the 14 billion year old relic radiation from the big bang. Carlstrom shared the 2015 Gruber Cosmology Prize for his work on advancing a new model of the universe. He has also received a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship and is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.