Event
Relics of the Big Bang
Thursday, February 14, 2008 18:30to19:30
Adams Building
3450 rue University, Montreal, QC, H3A 0E8, CA
Anna I. McPherson Lecture in Physics 2008 seminar. Guest speaker: Professor George Smoot, University of California, Berkeley, who was co-awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of the blackbody nature and the anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background radiation. The cosmic microwave background radiation is a relic of the Big Bang, and the long-sought-after anisotropies in this radiation are the seeds on which gravity works to grow the galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and clusters of clusters which are observed in the universe today. In this public lecture, Prof. Smoot will give an overview of the view of the structure and early history of the universe which emerges from the recent observational results. In addition to his vigorous research activities, Prof. Smoot lectures extensively on cosmology and has co-authored a popular science book, "Wrinkles in Time."