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SEQUENCE:0
UID:UW-Physics-Event-3514
DTSTART:20141028T170000Z
DTEND:20141028T180000Z
DTSTAMP:20260419T161528Z
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.<br>
\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.<br>
\n
URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=3514
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