Testing Einstein’s Universe, with Norbert Bartel
Black holes as massive as billions of suns combined, spacetime wit
curves and warps and galaxies speeding away almost as fast as the speed
of light: that is Einstein's Universe. For 90 years, Einstein's
theory
of general relativity has held its place. Now, new experiments put
Einstein to the test as never before. General relativity and quantum
mechanics are the two pillars of modern physics. However, they
are
completely incompatible. Quantum mechanics has given us our modern
world from the atom bomb to TV and is therefore verified every day.
General relativity, in contrast, remains verified only at a moderate
level of precision. Could it be that Einstein's theory breaks down at
some level?
Professor Norbert Bartel is a Distinguished Research Professor at York University. His research is focussed on galactic and extragalactic compact radio sources such as supernovae, pulsars, black hole candidates, radio stars and the powerful cores of radio galaxies and quasars. He was a leading Canadian scientist in the NASA-Stanford Gravity Probe-B project.
This lecture is CFI’s contribution to the International Year of Astronomy, which is a global effort initiated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and UNESCO to help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day- and night-time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery.
$5 admission, $4 for students, Free for CFI members