PHYSICS SEMINAR
Jose
Balduz
Department of Physics
Mercer University
Wednesday,
October 29, 2003
Willet Science Center 101
"Soccer Ball-Shaped Universe(!?) ... and other cosmic tales"
Recently the theory has been proposed, which may have support in astrophysical measurements, that the universe is finite and shaped like a curved dodecahedron (soccer ball). We will consider the letter from the 09 October 2003 issue of Nature titled "Dodecahedral space topology as an explanation for weak wide-angle temperature correlations in the cosmic microwave background," and a dissenting point of view. If time allows, we will touch upon some related and unrelated issues in modern cosmology, with reference to a number of articles from the pages of Scientific American including "Is Space Finite?" (April 1999), "Does Dark Matter Really Exist?" (August 2002), "The Search for Dark Matter" (March 2003), and "Parallel Universes" (May 2003)... If there's still time after that, we may consider "How To Build a Time Machine" (September 2002) and of course "Negative Energy, Wormholes and Warp Drive" (January 2000).
Please
join us for light refreshments outside WSC 109 at 4:15.