[Seminar] FW: Colloquia 4/7/2009

[Amy Barnes]

Dept of Physics & Astronomy
Lewis Hall 101
Tuesday, April 7th
4:00 pm


Stephon Alexander
Department of Physics and Astronomy
The Koshland Center for Integrated Sciences
Haverford College, PA

Dark Energy is Here to Stay

Recent cosmological observations have reached the conclusion that our
universe is undergoing an accelerated expansion. A mysterious unknown
substance called Dark Energy is needed to drive this acceleration. However,
the best paradigm which solves the problems of the standard big bang
cosmology is an early phase of rapid acceleration, requiring a much larger
value of the same dark energy substance. The existence of dark energy has
surprised cosmologists. In this colloquium I will review cosmic inflation
and the dark energy problem and discuss the challenges that they bring to
theoretical physics.
ALL GRADUATE STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND