Cosmology is well established, but could be better

Jim Peebles
Princeton University, 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics co-recipient

Abstract

Our standard cosmology passes an abundance of well-checked tests that make a convincing case that it is a good approximation to what happened as our universe expanded and cooled from a hot and dense early state. But the theory is incomplete. We cannot say how the dark energy and dark matter of our cosmology fit in standard particle theory, and we cannot even even find tight measures of the properties of these dark components; we still rely on simple models. A way forward is to collect evidence of problems with cosmology that might yield hints to help improve the theory. I will discuss examples.

Timbits, coffee, tea will be served in STI A before the colloquium.