Talks

An introduction to spacetime diagrams – a first step towards understanding Einstein’s special theory of relativity.
Learning Outcomes:
• Newton’s absolute space and time vs. Einstein’s relative space and time.
• Bodies move through both space and time – spacetime diagram “worldlines” show both motions.
• Drawing worldlines for bodies in various states of motion: at rest, moving with various constant velocities, and accelerating.

An experimental introduction to electron spin.
Learning Outcomes:
• To develop the classical understanding of a spinning bar magnet, and how we would expect it to be affected on passing through a Stern-Gerlach apparatus.
• How actual experiments with silver atoms (containing an electron that acts like a tiny spinning bar magnet) give results that are completely different from the above classical expectations.
• How a variety of different experiments lead to two main conclusions: (1) the spin of an electron is quantized (“spin up” or “spin down”), and (2) probability plays a fundamental role in the spin direction selected by the Stern-Gerlach apparatus.

In the first part of the talk, a brief introduction to general relativity and quantum theory is given. Their independent successes are discussed, as well as the desire and difficulty in merging them, to obtain a unique language to describe the universe. Then I focus on Loop quantum gravity, a particular approach towards this objective, in which a discrete microscopic structure of spacetime is envisaged.

At the end of inflation, dynamical instability can rapidly deposit the energy of homogeneous cold inflation into excitations of other fields. This process (known as preheating) essentially starts the hot big bang as we know it. I will present simulations of several preheating models using a new numerical solver DEFROST I developed. The results trace the evolution of the fields, which quickly become very inhomogeneous as the instability kicks in. Surprisingly, there appears to be a certain universality across preheating models with different decay channels. After initial transient, the field density distributions quickly become stationary and lognormal to high precision. I will discuss possible connection of this observation to scalar field turbulence.

Introduction to Einstein's famous rotating disk thought experiment, which he used to help him understand the true nature of gravity.
Learning Outcomes:
• Understanding that an observer placed at the edge of a rotating disk (or inside a rotating cylinder) experiences an artificial gravitational field related to his centripetal acceleration.
• Appreciating the ways in which this artificial gravitational field exactly mimics the real gravitational field we experience near the Earth's surface.
• How Einstein realized Newton's model of gravity must be wrong: it does not correctly predict the observed motions of the planets, and it does not respect the speed limit of the universe.