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UID:UW-Physics-Event-3514
DTSTART:20141028T170000Z
DTEND:20141028T180000Z
DTSTAMP:20240329T095103Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20141022T200102Z
LOCATION:145 BIRGE HALL
SUMMARY:Heart of Darkness\, PUBLIC ASTRONOMY WHITFORD LECTURE\, Jeremi
ah Ostriker\, Columbia Universty
DESCRIPTION:Can we unravel the secrets to of the universe and construc
t a scientific model that is believable? Over the past forty years\, w
e have learned that two little-understood components--dark matter and
dark energy--comprise most of the known cosmos\, explain the growth of
all cosmic structure\, and hold the key to the universe's fate. The
first of these accelerates the collapse of over-dense lumps and the fo
rmation of cosmic structures while the second pushes apart the structu
res that have formed.
\nFrom our early attempts to comprehend the
solar system\, to current space based exploration of our own galaxy an
d the realm of the nebulae beyond\, to the detection of the primordial
fluctuations of energy from which all subsequent structure developed\
, we will try to both explain the physics and also the history of how
the current model of our universe arose and has passed every test hurl
ed at it by the skeptics. Throughout this story\, an essential theme i
s emphasized: how three aspects of rational inquiry--the application o
f direct measurement and observation\, the introduction of mathematica
l modeling\, and the requirement that hypotheses should be testable an
d verifiable--guide scientific progress and underpin our modern cosmol
ogical paradigm. While the resulting model “works” to great preci
sion\, it still leaves unanswered some of the most fundamental cosmic
questions. We know that a cosmic model with more dark matter than ordi
nary chemical elements and even more dark energy than dark matter work
s well – ie matches all of the facts – but we do not know the natu
re of these dominant dark components.
\n
URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=3514
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