Seminars and Colloquia
Physics
A Solution to the Cosmological Constant Problem
Tue, Dec 11, 2018,
04:00 PM
at Seminar Hall 31, 2nd Floor, Main Building
Dr. Surjeet Rajendran
Univ. of California, Berkeley
The discovery of Dark Energy, a mysterious source that drives the accelerated expansion of the universe has created a major theoretical conundrum: the measured value of the dark energy is at least 60 orders of magnitude smaller than known theoretical contributions to it. What is the physics responsible for this extra-ordinary cancellation? It has been known for a long time that conventional symmetry based ideas that are often used to explain small numbers and precise cancellations are experimentally ruled out as solutions to this problem. In this talk, I will present a solution to the cosmological constant problem, where the problem is solved through cosmic evolution. This solution features novel cosmologies such as a Big Bounce that replaces the conventional Big Bang picture of the early universe. I will also discuss experimental techniques to search for these solutions in the laboratory.