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On Tuesday, October 25 from 7:30-10PM, there will be a public science lecture, held in the
Lensic theater.
Abstract:
Recent measurements have led to a new model in cosmology. In this model, the universe is
geometrically flat and accelerating, one third of the matter-energy density is matter, most
of which is dark matter, and the remaining two thirds is in the form of a mysterious dark
energy component. I will discuss the evidence for this current model, its successes and
challenges, the interface between cosmology and particle physics, and the ongoing and future
experiments aimed at improving the precision with which cosmological parameters are measured.
Biographical sketch:
Dr. Wendy Freedman is an astronomer and the Crawford H. Greenewalt Director at the Carnegie
Observatories in Pasadena, California. A native of Toronto, Canada, she received her doctorate in
astronomy and astrophysics from the University of Toronto in 1984. She received a Carnegie Fellowship
at the Observatories in 1984, joined the permanent faculty in 1987, and was appointed Director in 2003.
Dr. Freedman received the 1994 Marc Aaronson Lectureship and prize, and in 1999 was
selected as an American Physical Society Centennial Lecturer. In 2000,
she received the McGovern Award for her work on cosmology and was elected a
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2002 she was
awarded the American Philosophical Society's Magellanic Prize and in 2003 she was
elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Freedman's principal research interests are in observational cosmology. She was a principal
investigator for a team of thirty astronomers that carried out the Hubble Key Project to measure
the current expansion rate of the Universe, and in characterizing the nature of dark energy, which
is causing the Universe to speed up its expansion.
Last update 29 September 2005 - comments, questions to
panic05@lanl.gov
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