Series brings science to local communities
More than ninety percent of the Universe is "dark," composed of dark energy and dark matter, constituents that reveal their presence only through gravitational interaction with light and normal matter.
On Wednesday evening, Laboratory scientist Salman Habib is scheduled to discuss the basic concepts and enigmas of the dark Universe, along with a preview of what to expect from observations in the near future in “The Dark Universe Mysteries and Revelations,” as part of Los Alamos’s Frontiers in Science Public Lecture Series.
According to Habib, of Elementary Particles and Field Theory (T-8), observations performed within the last two decades have revolutionized cosmology and set it on a tantalizing course. They reveal a Universe remarkable both for the extent to which it can be scientifically understood, as well as the extent to which it remains mysterious.
The Frontiers in Science lecture series is sponsored by the Fellows of the Laboratory. Each talk is free to the public and begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday’s talk is at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 2401 12th Street, N.W. in Albuquerque.
Habib also will speak on Thursday (September 6) in the James A. Little Theater at the New Mexico School for the Deaf in Santa Fe; September 12 at the Nick Salazar Center for the Arts at Northern New Mexico College in Española; and September 13 in the Duane W. Smith Auditorium at Los Alamos High School.
Habib obtained his undergraduate degree at the Indian Institute of Technology and a docorate degree from the University of Maryland, both in physics. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia before arriving at Los Alamos, coming first as a post-doctoral fellow in Theoretical Astrophysics (T-6), later becoming a staff member in T-8. His research in cosmology includes precision predictions for primordial fluctuations, the study of dark matter and dark energy, cosmic voids, early structure formation, predictions for –– and statistical analysis of –– high-dimensional cosmological datasets, and precision cosmology applications of large-scale computer simulations.
The Frontiers in Science lectures are intended to increase local public awareness of the diversity of science and engineering research being conducted by the Laboratory.
For more information on the Frontiers in Science series, contact Linda Anderman of the Community Programs Office (CPO) at 5-9196 or anderman@lanl.gov by electronic mail.