Wednesday, January 8, 2025, 7 pm Palestine time
Prof. Neil Turok, Higgs Chair of Theoretical Physics, University of Edinburgh
Title: A Simple Cosmology
Abstract: Observational cosmology has progressed in leaps and bounds over the past few decades, revealing remarkable simplicity in the large-scale universe. Likewise, experiments probing the tiniest scales have detected no deviations from previously known physics. These findings were not what most theorists expected. According to the dominant theoretical paradigm – a combination of string theory and inflation – the universe is expected to be extremely complex on tiny scales and wildly chaotic and unpredictable on very large scales. What should we make of the apparent discrepancy? Perhaps, when observations and experiments reach small or large enough scales, the asserted complexity will be revealed. More interesting, in my view, is the possibility that the universe really is simple and predictable on large and small scales. If so, we may be closer to understanding nature’s basic laws than we imagined. I will review a new hypothesis, that the big bang is a kind of mirror which ensures that the universe respects the basic symmetry of its governing laws. This simple idea turns out to provide radical new theoretical foundations for cosmology as well as several testable predictions. The big bang singularity is resolved and the observed, large-scale geometry is explained. The dark matter consists of stable, right-handed neutrinos and the lightest neutrino is predicted to be massless. Several theoretical anomalies are resolved by a mechanism which predicts precisely 3 generations of elementary particles. These developments suggest an exciting road map for the future.
Bio: Neil Turok, a distinguished theoretical physicist, holds the Carlo Fidani Roger Penrose Distinguished Visiting Research Chair in Theoretical Physics. He was the Director of the Perimeter Institute (2008–2019). Turok’s research includes key contributions to cosmology, including confirming predictions of standard cosmology regarding the cosmic background radiation (CBR) and dark energy. He co-discovered instanton solutions with Stephen Hawking. He has received several prestigious awards, including the James Clerk Maxwell Medal and the Lane Anderson Award for his book The Universe Within. Born in South Africa, Turok founded the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in 2003, which has grown into a renowned network of six postgraduate training centers across Africa. His efforts in science and education have earned global recognition, including the TED Prize and the John Torrence Tate Medal.