Tuesday 20th February 2024, 7pm, Sibson Lecture Theatre 3
Professor Justin Read (Surrey)
Since its discovery by the Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky in the 1930’s, dark matter has continued to capture the public imagination. It raises the velocity of stars and gas in galaxies, bends light around massive galaxy clusters and promotes the growth of structure in the Universe. In this talk, I will explain the key evidences for dark matter, and our latest theories for what it is. In particular, I will focus on new results from our group in Surrey that show that dark matter can be “heated up” and moved around at the centres of tiny “dwarf” galaxies. I show that this points to dark matter comprising a new particle of nature that remains to be found. I conclude with a discussion of the latest experiments that are trying to detect or create such a particle in the laboratory.
The talk is free and open to all. Doors open about half an hour before the talk begins.
For directions to the lecture theatre, see here.