Talks

Current measurements from WMAP and other cosmological probes are consistent with a simple inflationary model. Such models predict a background of gravitational waves which may soon be observable in the polarized component of the Cosmic Microwave Background. However, WMAP has observed significant levels of polarized radiation from our galaxy, due to both synchrotron radiation and thermal dust emission. A better understanding of this radiation will be vital if we are to correctly remove it and confidently detect an inflationary signal. As well as discussing the observational case for inflation, I will review the physical origins of the polarized galactic emission, present a simple model for the galactic magnetic field, and discuss current and future directions for improving upon our galactic models.

Will big questions be answered when the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) switches on in 2007? What will scientists find? Where might the research lead? Nima Arkani-Hamed, a noted particle theorist, is a Professor of Physics at Harvard University. He investigates a number of mysteries and interactions in nature – puzzles that are likely to have experimental consequences in the next few years via particle accelerators, like the LHC, as well as cosmological observations. fundamental physics, Nima Arkani-Hamed, \'Future of Fundamental Physics\', general relativity, quantum mechanics, Large Hadrom Collider, L H C, quark, quantum gravity, string theory, special relativity, standard model, Planck scale, space-time, vacuum, Higgs boson, super symmetry

Soon after Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) was shown to exhibit asymptotic freedom at short distances, it was realized that it might be possible to create a new form of matter at high temperatures (T „d 150 MeV) in which hadrons dissolve and quarks and gluons become locally deconfined. Experiments have been carried out for the last two decades attempting to create this new form of matter, called ¡§quark-gluon plasma¡¨ (QGP), via high-energy collisions of large nuclei. In 2000, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) started operation at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US and results obtained from the first five years of RHIC operation provide the first convincing evidence for creation of the quark-gluon plasma in the laboratory. Measurements at RHIC show that the QGP is opaque to the passage of high-energy quarks and gluons and that interactions between the quarks and gluons in the QGP appears to be much stronger than initially expected. The estimated viscosity to entropy ratio of the QGP has been interpreted as showing that the QGP produced at RHIC is the most perfect fluid ever observed in the laboratory. Measurements from RHIC also suggest that the strong, coherent gluon fields in the incident nuclei play a significant role in the initial particle production and early evolution of the quark gluon plasma. Within the next few years, the large hadron collider will provide Pb+Pb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center of mass energy of 5.5 TeV, thus opening a new frontier in the study of the QGP. I will provide a summary of the key experimental observables at RHIC, a discussion of their canonical interpretation and then discuss how measurements at the LHC can be used to test these interpretations.

The duality between theories of quantum strings and Yang-Mills gauge theories, in particular the AdS/CFT conjecture, has over the years given rise to many important physical insights. Recently, the realization that both sides of the duality, in certain limits, can be be described by integrable systems has lead to a good deal of progress. In this talk we will review the construction of these integrable structures and their usefulness in understanding strings in curved backgrounds/strongly coupled gauge theories. We will discuss how the asymptotic S-matrix that enters the Bethe equations for gauge theory anomalous dimensions provides a very convenient description of the system and how it can be reproduced from the classical string theory. Further, we will outline some partial attempts to extend this equivalence, and the corresponding integrable structures, to include world-sheet quantum loop effects.

I first summarize how the recent avalanche of precision measurements involving the cosmic microwave background, galaxy clustering, the Lyman alpha forest, gravitational lensing, supernovae Ia and other tools probes has transformed our understanding of our universe. I then discuss key open problems such as the nature of dark matter, dark energy and the early universe.

With a cosmic flight simulator, we'll take a scenic journey through space and time. After exploring our local Galactic neighborhood, we'll travel back 13.7 billion years to explore the Big Bang itself and how state-of-the-art measurements are transforming our understanding of our cosmic origin and ultimate fate. We then turn to the question of whether this can all be described purely mathematically, and discuss implications ranging from standard physics topics like symmetries, irreducible representations, units, free parameters and initial conditions to broader issues like parallel universes, simulations and and Goedel incompleteness.