Our universe seems to be remarkably simple. With six basic numbers including the age of the universe, the density of atoms and the density of matter,
we can describe all of our cosmological observations. This simple model seems to be consistent with almost all of our precision measurements of
the large-scale distribution of galaxies, the fluctuations in the microwave background, and measurements of the expansion rate of the universe.
While simple, the model implies that atoms make up only 5% of our universe and the rest is made of dark matter and dark energy. I will describe
recent suggestions that our basic model is incomplete and there may be need for even more new physics. I will then focus on NASA’s WFIRST mission,
our planned mission to probe the nature of dark energy and the Simons Observatory, our next generation CMB experiment.
Seminar Speaker: David Spergel, Flatiron Institute
Host: Sasha Tchekhovskoy
Keywords: Physics, Astronomy, Seminar, Colloquium
Yassaman
(847) 491-7650
Email