{"596915":{"#nid":"596915","#data":{"type":"event","title":"Einstein\u0027s Cosmos and the Quantum: Origin of Space, Time, and Large-Scale Structure of the Universe","body":[{"value":"\u003Ch3\u003EA Bold Ideas in Physics and Frontiers in Science Lecture by Abhay Ashtekar, Pennsylvania State University\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003EFor over two millennia, civilizations have pondered over the questions of cosmogenesis. But serious attempts to address\u0026nbsp;them began only with Einstein\u0026#39;s discovery of general relativity a century ago. Advances over the past 25 years have led\u0026nbsp;to the fascinating conclusion that the large-scale structure of the universe can be traced back to quantum nothingness.\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003EInvestigations in quantum gravity are now addressing the issue of the origin of space and time itself, enabling us to peer past the Big Bang. This talk will provide an overview of this saga in terms that are accessible to undergraduates and the general public.\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the Speaker\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.phys.psu.edu\/people\/ava1\u0022\u003EAbhay Vasant Ashtekar\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;is a theoretical physicist. He is the Eberly Professor of Physics and the Director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gravity.psu.edu\/about\/index.shtml\u0022\u003EInstitute for Gravitation and the Cosmos\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;at\u0026nbsp;Pennsylvania State University. As the creator of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ashtekar_variables\u0022 title=\u0022Ashtekar variables\u0022\u003EAshtekar variables\u003C\/a\u003E, he is one of the founders of\u0026nbsp;loop quantum gravity\u0026nbsp;and its subfield, loop quantum cosmology. He has written a number of descriptions of loop quantum gravity that are accessible to non-physicists.\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003EIn 1999, Ashtekar and his colleagues calculated the\u0026nbsp;entropy\u0026nbsp;for a\u0026nbsp;black hole, matching a legendary 1974 prediction by Stephen Hawking.\u0026nbsp;Oxford mathematical physicist\u0026nbsp;Roger Penrose\u0026nbsp;has described Ashtekar\u0026#39;s approach to\u0026nbsp;quantum gravity\u0026nbsp;as \u0026quot;the most important of all the attempts at \u0026#39;quantizing\u0026#39; general relativity.\u0026quot;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the David Ritz Finkenstein Bold Ideas in Physics Lectures\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003ELectures in this series celebrate the memory of Georgia Tech physicist David Ritz Finkelstein, who took intellectual risks, avoided safe questions, and instead took on deep and challenging problems of real significance and potential.\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Frontiers in Science Lectures\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003ELectures in this series are intended to inform, engage, and inspire students, faculty, staff, and the public on developments, breakthroughs, and topics of general interest in the sciences and mathematics. Lecturers tailor their talk for nonexpert audiences.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAdvances over the past 25 years have led to the fascinating conclusion that the large-scale structure of the universe can be traced back to \u0026quot;quantum nothingness\u003Cem\u003E.\u0026quot;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A Bold Ideas in Physics and Frontiers in Science Lecture by Abhay Ashtekar, Pennsylvania State University"}],"uid":"34553","created_gmt":"2017-10-04 12:46:35","changed_gmt":"2017-10-12 19:24:03","author":"sniebuhr3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2017-11-14T18:00:00-05:00","event_time_end":"2017-11-14T19:00:00-05:00","event_time_end_last":"2017-11-14T19:00:00-05:00","gmt_time_start":"2017-11-14 23:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2017-11-15 00:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2017-11-15 00:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"597271":{"id":"597271","type":"image","title":"Ashtekar. flyer","body":null,"created":"1507753216","gmt_created":"2017-10-11 20:20:16","changed":"1507836110","gmt_changed":"2017-10-12 19:21:50","alt":"","file":{"fid":"227684","name":"Ashtekar 11-14-17.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ashtekar%2011-14-17.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ashtekar%2011-14-17.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1440112,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Ashtekar%2011-14-17.png?itok=_7rcedpe"}}},"media_ids":["597271"],"groups":[{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"168852","name":"Frontiers in Science Lecture"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1795","name":"Seminar\/Lecture\/Colloquium"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78761","name":"Faculty\/Staff"},{"id":"78771","name":"Public"},{"id":"174045","name":"Graduate students"},{"id":"78751","name":"Undergraduate students"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003Esniebuhr3@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}