General Relativity, Going Strong at 92: Time Travel and Dark Energy

Is time travel possible? Einstein’s Biggest Blunder? A Cosmic Mystery Story

Date: September 15, 2007 Time: 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM

Location: 38 Cameron Gallery 38 Cameron Avenue, Suite 100 Cambridge, MA, 02140

Speakers:

Is time travel possible? Professor Ken Olum – Tufts University, Medford, MA.

Einstein’s Biggest Blunder? A Cosmic Mystery Story – Professor Lawrence M. Krauss– Case Western Reserve University

Click here for Brochure Cover, Inside

It’s About Time: The Concept of Time, Cosmology and the Latest Theory about Time.

The Beginning and End of Time:  Life, The Universe, and Nothing?

Date: Sunday, July 29th, 2007

Time: 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM

Location: Hillel center at UCLA

Speakers: Professor Lawrence M. Krauss – Case Western Reserve University and Professor Itzhak Bars – University of Southern California, Los Angeles)

Click here for Brochure Cover, Inside

Extra Dimensions and String Theory: Physics of the Future or Pure Mathematics?

Date:Saturday, April 7, 2007

Time: 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Speakers: Professor Lawrence M. Krauss and Professor John Terning

Click here for Brochure Cover, Inside

Topic: String Theory: A Theory of Anything? A Theory of Nothing? A Theory?

Speaker: Professor Lawrence M. Krauss – Case Western Reserve University

Lawrence M. Krauss is Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics, Prof of Astronomy, and Director of the Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics. Krauss received his PhD from MIT in 1982 and then joined the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. He was appointed to the faculty of physics and astronomy at Yale University in 1985, and then joined Case as Chair of Physics in 1993. The author of 7 popular books including international bestseller, The Physics of Star Trek, and the award winning, Atom, and his newest book, Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions from Plato to String Theory and Beyond, Krauss is also a regular radio commentator and essayist for newspapers such as the New York Times, and appears regularly on television. Krauss is one of the few well known scientists today described by such magazines as Scientific American as a public intellectual, and with activities including performing with the Cleveland Orchestra, he has also crossed the chasm between science and popular culture. At the same time he is a highly regarded international leader in cosmology and astrophysics, and is the author of over 200 papers, winner of numerous international awards for his research accomplishments and his writing (he is, for example, the only physicist to have been awarded the highest awards of the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the American Institute of Physics) and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has been particularly active leading the effort by scientists to defend the teaching of science in public schools. His essay in the New York Times on Evolution and Intelligent Design in May 2005 helped spur the recent controversy that has involved the Catholic Church.

Topic: String Theory: What is it Good for?

Speaker: Professor John Terning – University of California, Davis

John Terning is Professor of Physics at University of California, Davis. He received his Ph.D. from University of Toronto and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University. He was also a researcher at Boston University, University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University. Professor Terning was a staff member at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. John Terning’s research Interests include theoretical particle physics, electroweak symmetry breaking, supersymmetry, cosmology, extra dimensions, and AdS/CFT correspondence.

The beginnings of string theory as an attempt to understand strongly bound quarks will be reviewed. How string theory evolved into a theory of quantum gravity will also be covered before moving on to more recent developments including the Maldacena conjecture and it’s applications to heavy ion collisions, the five dimensional Randall-Sundrum model, and a possible origin for the electron mass.

Location: Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley

Space-Time & the Cosmos

Date: Saturday, December 17, 2005

Time: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Click here for Brochure Cover, Inside

Topic: The Nature of Space and Time

Speaker: Professor Gary T. Horowitz – University of California, Santa Barbara

Gary T. Horowitz is a Professor of Physics at University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his Ph.D. from University of Chicago and continued on his postdoctoral research at UCSB and mathematical Institute at Oxford. He was a member of the Institute for Advanced study at Princeton before joining the faculty at UCSB. Professor Horowitz is a leading expert on gravitational physics. His research is mostly focused on questions involving gravity under the most extreme conditions. These include the big bang in cosmology and the spacetime inside black holes. His research also involves gravitational aspects of string theory including black holes in higher dimensions, quantum properties of black holes, and especially quantum descriptions of singularities.   His honors include Fellow of the American Physical Society, Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, Albert Einstein Fellow, First Prize in Gravity Research Foundation contest (shared with R. Myers), and the Xanthopoulos Prize (an international prize in general relativity).

Topic: Finding a Home in the Multiverse

Speaker: Professor Anthony Aguirre – University of California, Santa Cruz

Anthony Aguirre is a professor of physics at UC Santa Cruz. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He spent three years as a member of astrophysics group at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Professor Aguirre has worked in a wide variety of topics in theoretical cosmology, ranging from intergalactic dust to galaxy formation to gravity physics to the large-scale structure of inflationary universes and the arrow of time.

Topic: Extra Dimensions

Speaker: Professor John Terning – University of California, Davis

John Terning is Professor of Physics at University of California, Davis. He received his Ph.D. from University of Toronto and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University. He was also a researcher at Boston University, University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University. Professor Terning was a staff member at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. John Terning’s research Interests include theoretical particle physics, electroweak symmetry breaking, supersymmetry, cosmology, extra dimensions, and AdS/CFT correspondence.

Location: Magnin Auditorium, Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles

Symposium At A Glance

Latest Theories about the Universe & Its Governing Laws

Date: Saturday, November 5, 2005Time: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Click here for Brochure Cover,Inside

Topic: The World as a Hologram

Speakers: Professor Raphael Bousso – University of California, Berkeley

Raphael Bousso is a professor of physics at University of California, Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. from Cambridge University and went on to become a Post-doc at Stanford University. He also worked at the Kavli Institute for theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, and he was a fellow at the Harvard University physics department and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Professor Bousso is a leading expert on quantum gravity, cosmology, and string theory. He discovered a general formulation of the holographic principle, telling us, among other things, just how much information there is in the universe. He also proposed, with J. Polchinski, an explanation of the mysterious accelerated expansion of the universe that has recently been observed. He and Polchinski showed that string theory predicts a multiverse containing regions with the right amount of the required dark energy.

Topic: Finding a Home in the Multiverse

Speaker: Professor Anthony Aguirre – University of California, Santa Cruz

Anthony Aguirre is a professor of physics at UC Santa Cruz. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He spent three years as a member of astrophysics group at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Professor Aguirre has worked in a wide variety of topics in theoretical cosmology, ranging from intergalactic dust to galaxy formation to gravity physics to the large-scale structure of inflationary universes and the arrow of time.

Topic: Extra Dimensions

Speaker: Professor John Terning – University of California, Davis

John Terning is Professor of Physics at University of California, Davis. He received his Ph.D. from University of Toronto and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University. He was also a researcher at Boston University, University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University. Professor Terning was a staff member at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. John Terning’s research Interests include theoretical particle physics, electroweak symmetry breaking, supersymmetry, cosmology, extra dimensions, and AdS/CFT correspondence.

Location: Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley

Seminar At A Glance