2011 Misel Family Public Lecture

“The Dark Side of the Universe"

Professor Roger Blandford

Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, & SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
 

McNamara Alumni Center, Memorial Hall

Wednesday, September 20, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.

Abstract: Our understanding of the universe is undergoing a revolution. Astronomical measurements have demonstrated that about 21% of universe is in the form of "dark matter," which gravitationally attracts but is otherwise invisible and most of the remainder (75%) takes the form of "dark energy," which causes space to expand at an ever-increasing rate. This implies that only a small fraction of the universe is matter that we understand! In this presentation, we will explore the evidence for dark matter and dark energy, as well as the experiments being developed to investigate their fundamental nature.