Physics and Engineering Physics Colloquium

Jeremy Tinker, Ph.D., associate professor of physics at NYU, will present “The History of the Universe from 1919 to Today.”

From the Speaker:
I will review some of the fundamental observations that have led us to the understanding that the universe is not only expanding but that this expansion is currently accelerating. I will begin with the observational tests of Einstein’s general relativity, move on to dense star clusters seen in the halo of the milky way galaxy, and then to the information contained within maps of the radiation left over from the Big Bang. All of these observations contain clues as to the age, size, and shape of the universe, leading to the counter-intuitive conclusion that the universe is filled with some form of “dark energy” that is exponentially accelerating the expansion of the universe.