Abhay Deshpande Interim Associate Laboratory Director | Brookhaven National Laboratory
Abhay Deshpande Interim Associate Laboratory Director | Brookhaven National Laboratory
Physicist Katherine Freese is set to deliver a lecture titled "The Mystery of Dark Matter in the Universe" at Brookhaven National Laboratory on November 20. The event, part of the BSA Distinguished Lecture series, will be held at 4 p.m. EST and is open to the public both in person and virtually via Zoom.
Freese's talk will explore the elusive nature of dark matter, which makes up 25% of the universe alongside 70% dark energy, leaving only 5% as known matter. She will discuss historical discoveries from the 1930s and observations by Vera Rubin in the 1970s that highlighted dark matter's significance in galaxies. Additionally, she will delve into contemporary data from various sources like underground labs and CERN's Large Hadron Collider.
Theorists propose that dark matter may consist of new fundamental particles such as WIMPs, axions, or primordial black holes. Freese will also address evidence for dark matter in galaxies and introduce "dark stars," early stars potentially powered by dark matter.
Katherine Freese serves as director of both the Weinberg Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Texas Center for Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work focuses on identifying dark matter and energy while modeling the early universe post-Big Bang. In recognition of her contributions, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2020.
Freese authored "The Cosmic Cocktail: Three Parts Dark Matter," published in June 2014, and received the Lilienfeld Prize from the American Physical Society in 2019 for her research bridging cosmology and particle physics.
The BSA Distinguished Lectures are organized by Brookhaven Science Associates to engage both laboratory personnel and the general public with topics of broad interest. Freese’s presentation coincides with a workshop titled “Uncovering New Laws of Nature at the EIC,” aimed at connecting high-energy physics research with nuclear physics advancements at Brookhaven's upcoming Electron-Ion Collider facility.
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