Sciama Colloquium: 100 years of General Relativity

From Einstein in 1915 to Relativistic Cosmology in the 21st Century. A seminar by Pedro Ferreira of Oxford University
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24 October, 5 pm
SISSA, "P. Budinich" Main Lecture Hall

Physical Cosmology is the success story of modern physics. Observations of the large scale structure of the universe have allowed us to characterize the cosmological model with unprecedented precision. What is less appreciated is that we have learnt a great deal about the building blocks of Relativistic Cosmology: about space-time, its origin and the role of general relativity in the evolution of the universe. In the Colloquium astrophysicist Pedro Ferreira will show how, over the last two decades, we have made tremendous progress in characterizing the overall metric of space-time- its homogeneity and isotropy- as well as its properties at very early times. He will show how exploring general relativity can play a crucial role in solving one of the big cosmological puzzles (the dark energy problem) and how cosmology can be used to find new, precision constraints on general relativity. Ferreira will discuss a vision of the future in which we attempt to completely map out the large scale characteristics of space-time using innovative techniques and future surveys.

SISSA Colloquia are part of the celebration of the School's 40th anniversary. They are intended as a moment of interdisciplinary exchange and a way to reaffirm the sense of belonging to our community