Of Particular Significance

Tag: PublicTalks

Public Talk at the University of Michigan Dec 5th

This week I’ll be at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and I’ll be giving a public talk for a general audience at 4 pm on Thursday, December 5th. If you are in the area, please attend! And if you know someone at the University of Michigan or in the Ann Arbor area who might be interested, please let them know. (For physicists: I’ll also be giving an expert-level seminar at the Physics Department the following day.)

Here are the logistical details:

The Quantum Cosmos and Our Place Within It

Thursday, December 5, 2024, 4:00-5:00 PM ; Rackham Graduate School , 4th Floor Amphitheatre

When we step outside to contemplate the night sky, we often imagine ourselves isolated and adrift in a vast cavern of empty space—but is it so? Modern physics views the universe as more full than empty. Over the past century, this unfamiliar idea has emerged from a surprising partnership of exotic concepts: quantum physics and Einstein’s relativity. In this talk I’ll illustrate how this partnership provides the foundation for every aspect of human experience, including the existence of subatomic particles (and the effect of the so-called “Higgs field”), the peaceful nature of our journey through the cosmos, and the solidity of the ground beneath our feet.

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

ON December 2, 2024

Speaking at Brown University Nov 18th

Just a brief note, in a very busy period, to alert those in the Providence, RI area that I’ll be giving a colloquium talk at the Brown University Physics Department on Monday November 18th at 4pm. Such talks are open to the public, but are geared toward people who’ve had at least one full year of physics somewhere in their education. The title is “Exploring The Foundations of our Quantum Cosmos”. Here’s a summary of what I intend to talk about:

The discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 marked a major milestone in our understanding of the universe, and a watershed for particle physics as a discipline. What’s known about particles and fields now forms a nearly complete short story, an astonishing, counterintuitive tale of relativity and quantum physics. But it sits within a larger narrative that is riddled with unanswered questions, suggesting numerous avenues of future research into the nature of spacetime and its many fields. I’ll discuss both the science and the challenges of accurately conveying its lessons to other scientists, to students, and to the wider public.

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

ON November 15, 2024

Today: Panel Discussion at the Boston Public Library

This evening, Thursday June 6th at 6:30 pm, I’ll be joined at the Boston Public Library by Sarah Demers, professor at Yale and member of the ATLAS experiment, and Katrina Miller, Ph.D. in neutrino physics and writer for, among other publications, the New York Times. We’ll serve on a panel entitled “Particle Physics: Where the Universe and Humanity Collide”, talking about the future of particle physics and about how we got into physics in the first place. This event, intended for the general public, is part of the international scientific meeting that I’m attending this week, the 12th annual Large Hadron Collider Physics conference. I hope to see some of you there!

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

ON June 6, 2024

Panel Discussion This Week in Boston

The 12th Large Hadron Collider Physics conference is taking place this week in Boston, and for the first time in a several years, I’ll be able to attend in person. I’ll post about it all week.

As part of the conference activities, I will be participating in a public event Thursday night at the Boston Public Library, a panel discussion entitled “Where the Universe and Humanity Collide.” The other panelists are Yale Professor Sarah Demers, a member of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, and Dr. Katrina Miller, a particle physicis and a writer and essayist for the New York Times and other publications. We’ll be discussing the future of particle physics, talking about how we got into the field, and answering whatever questions the audience might have for us. If you’re in Boston, please consider attending!

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

ON June 3, 2024

Some Upcoming Speaking Events, One Tomorrow

Three events coming up!

Tomorrow, Wednesday, May 15th, in the town of Northampton, Massachusetts, I’ll be speaking about my book — specifically, about why and how the relationship between ourselves and the universe is not what it seems. The event will be held at the Broadside Bookshop at 7pm. If you’re in the Pioneer Valley, please come by! And let your friends in the area know, too.

(more…)

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

ON May 14, 2024

Speaking Next Wednesday in Northampton, Massachusetts

I’ll be spending the remainder of this week at the 2nd Scicomm Collider conference, hosted at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario, and organized by astrophysicist and writer Katie Mack. I’m very much looking forward to it!

Next week I’ll be back in Massachusetts, in the town of Northampton, where I’ll be speaking about my book. The event is at 7pm on Wednesday, May 15th at the lovely Broadside Bookshop. If you’re in the Pioneer Valley, please join me! And if you have friends in the area, please let them know.

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

ON May 8, 2024

Speaking at Harvard Tonight at 6pm

A reminder: tonight (April 3) at 6pm I’ll be giving a public lecture about my book, along with a Q&A in conversation with Greg Kestin, at Harvard University’s Science Center. It’s free, though they request an RSVP. More details are here. Please spread the word! (Next event in Pasadena, CA on April 10th.)

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

ON April 3, 2024

Speaking in Nashville, Cambridge and the West Coast

I’m beginning a period of travel and public speaking, so new posts may be a bit limited for a time. (Meanwhile, explore this site’s other offerings!) Tomorrow, Thursday March 28th, I’ll be in Nashville, at Vanderbilt University’s department of physics and astronomy, giving a talk (at 4 pm) about the subjects covered in my recent book. Next, on Wednesday April 3rd (6 pm) I’ll be in Cambridge, Massachusetts, giving a public talk about the book at the Harvard Science Center, as organized by the Harvard Bookstore (the wonderful independent book store located right in Harvard Square.) [Free, but RSVP.]

Then I’ll be on the west coast for a couple of weeks; if you live out there, check out this site’s upcoming-events page. And if you can’t attend any of these events, you can always listen to the recent podcasts that I’ve been on, with Sean Carroll (here) and with Daniel Whiteson (part 1 and part 2.)

More physics coming soon!

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

ON March 27, 2024

Giving two free lectures 6/20,27 about gravitational waves

For those of you who live in or around Berkshire County, Massachusetts, or know people who do…

Starting next week I’ll be giving two free lectures about the LIGO experiment’s discovery of gravitational waves. The lectures will be at 1:30 pm on Mondays June 20 and 27, at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, MA. The first lecture will focus on why gravitational waves were expected by scientists, and the second will be on how gravitational waves were discovered, indirectly and then directly. No math or science background will be assumed. (These lectures will be similar in style to the ones I gave a couple of years ago concerning the Higgs boson discovery.)

Here’s a flyer with the details: http://berkshireolli.org/ProfessorMattStrasslerOLLILecturesFlyer.pdf

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

ON June 14, 2016

LHC Starts Collisions; and a Radio Interview Tonight

In the long and careful process of restarting the Large Hadron Collider [LHC] after its two-year nap for upgrades and repairs, another milestone has been reached: protons have once again collided inside the LHC’s experimental detectors (named ATLAS, CMS, LHCb and ALICE). This is good news, but don’t get excited yet. It’s just one small step. These are collisions at the lowest energy at which the LHC operates (450 GeV per proton, to be compared with the 4000 GeV per proton in 2012 and the 6500 GeV per proton they’ve already achieved in the last month, though in non-colliding beams.) Also the number of protons in the beams, and the number of collisions per second, is still very, very small compared to what will be needed. So discoveries are not imminent! Yesterday’s milestone was just one of the many little tests that are made to assure that the LHC is properly set up and ready for the first full-energy collisions, which should start in about a month.

But since full-energy collisions are on the horizon, why not listen to a radio show about what the LHC will be doing after its restart is complete? Today (Wednesday May 6th), Virtually Speaking Science, on which I have appeared a couple of times before, will run a program at 5 pm Pacific time (8 pm Eastern). Science writer Alan Boyle will be interviewing me about the LHC’s plans for the next few months and the coming years. You can listen live, or listen later once they post it. Here’s the link for the program.

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

ON May 6, 2015

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Tag: PublicTalks

The Quantum Cosmos and Our Place Within It

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

POSTED BY Matt Strassler

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