Thursday,
March 28th 2002
4:30 PM
~ Mellon Institute Auditorium
Supernovae,
Dark Energy
and the Accelerating Universe
Speaker:
Saul Perlmutter
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Abstract:
Light from the cataclysmic explosions of distant stars called supernovae provide us
with natural milemarkers across the vast expanses of space, markers that can be used
to track the past expansion of the universe and extrapolate its fate. The most recent
results indicate that the universe will last forever and that its expansion will
speed up indefinitely. If this is the case, some fundamental physics concepts may need
to be revised and some mysterious dark energy, perhaps Einstein's "cosmological
constant," may pervade the universe. By developing new detector systems and larger
telescopes both on earth and in space, scientists are opening a new chapter of
striking discoveries.
About Saul Perlmutter:
Saul Perlmutter is the leader of the Supernovae Cosmology Project, an international
collaboration of research teams from seven countries. Science Magazine named his
measurements of the accelerating universe the 1998 "Breakthrough of the Year."
A lecturer and author, Perlmutter has appeared in PBS and BBC cosmology documentaries.
A senior scientist at the E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, he earned his
A.B. degree at Harvard University and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of
California at Berkeley.
