HKUST 15th Anniversary

Institute for Advanced Study

Lecture Series: Perspectives on the Origin of the Universe

How Our Universe Began (String theory perspective)

Speaker: Prof Henry Tye, Cornell University

Date: 13th June 2006

Prof Henry Tye from Cornell University will explain the origin and structure of the universe from the perspective of string theory. This theory is nowadays considered one of the most plausible candidates for the "theory of everything" and is one of the most mathematically exquisite theories ever developed by mankind.

The Space-time of Hawking: brief introduction on Hawking's life, his work in physics, and his view on the nature of space and time

Speaker: Dr Tian-Wen Chen, HKUST

Date: 11th June 2006

Talks by Dr Tian-Wen Chen of HKUST will target at secondary-school students interested in knowing more about gravity and cosmology. He will provide the basic but necessary background information on general relativity, black holes and the nature of space and time, with an emphasis on the work of Stephen Hawking.

Hawking and Black Holes: Earlier Work by Hawking and Related Astronomical Observations

Speaker: Dr Michael Kwok-Yee Wong, HKUST

Date: 3rd June 2006

Talks by Dr Michael Kwok-Yee Wong of HKUST will target at secondary-school students interested in knowing more about gravity and cosmology. He will provide the basic but necessary background information on general relativity, black holes and the nature of space and time, with an emphasis on the work of Stephen Hawking.

Maybe Einstein Goofed

Speaker: Prof Robert B Laughlin, 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics (KAIST and Stanford University)

Date: 2nd June 2006

Prof Robert B Laughlin is a Condensed Matter theorist who is an 'outsider' to the fields of Cosmology and High Energy Physics. He will show us how to challenge an existing paradigm in a well-established field in physics. This is perhaps not unusual for Prof Laughlin. His theory of the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect was considered a major challenge to the formerly prevailing paradigm of Condensed Matter physics. His theory led him to the 1998 Nobel Prize and has reshaped the field ever since.

Abstract:
Einstein's general theory of relativity predicts the existence of black holes, strange spherical objects that eat all light and matter than goes into them. In this talk Prof Laughlin will explore the possibility that this prediction is false and the cosmological you would look for to find out. The way it might happen is that the principle of relativity doesn't work on extremely small length scales because it is "emergent". Prof Laughlin will explain what "emergent" means and give a few examples from table-top physics. This observation identifies a key flaw in theories of the universe based on superstrings .

A Grass-Roots Approach to Quantum Gravity: The Role of Statistical Physics

Speaker: Prof Bei-Lok Bernard Hu, University of Maryland

Date: 24th May 2006

Prof Bei-Lok Hu will tell us the relation of quantum gravity, the most pressing unsolved issue of theoretical physics, and the origin of the universe, the ultimate mystery of Nature, and present one unconventional yet most sensible approach to this theory, from the "bottom-up", without making any assumption on an ultimate "theory of everything".

This approach relies more on well-proven theories depicting today's low energy phenomena and large scale structure of spacetime, matched by cosmological observations and experimental data. It begins with General Relativity and Quantum Field Theory, and goes beyond to semiclassical and stochastic gravity, aided by ideas and techniques from nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, fluctuation phenomena, quantum noise and stochastic processes.