Wonderful World 2024 offers several hardcore scientific series, including "Dark is the New Black: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and Black Holes." In this series, three international experts will delve into each phenomenon: Dark Energy, Dark Matter, and Black Holes, asking: What are these, how do we observe them, and why are these phenomena essential for our understanding of the world? We start with black holes.
Thursday 18:00: Black Holes
Friday 17:30: Dark Matter
Saturday 13:00: Dark Energy
It's only within the last century that astronomy and astrophysics have been able to ascertain that the universe is larger than our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Since then, our understanding of the cosmos has evolved rapidly, primarily based on observations of light from distant celestial objects. However, three phenomena stand out by not emitting light: they are all "Dark."
Lecture by Alex Nielsen, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Stavanger, an expert on General Relativity, who has been part of the LIGO collaboration for many years and made significant contributions to the first discovery of gravitational waves from the merger of Black Holes.
The opponent will be Jeroen van Dongen, professor of the History of Science at the University of Amsterdam, and Co-Director of the Vossius Center for History of Humanities and Sciences. He is an expert on the history of General Relativity and the work of Albert Einstein.
The host is Anders Tranberg, professor of theoretical physics at UiS, a member of the festival's program committee, and primarily responsible for the scientific series during Wonderful World 2024.