6th annualTHE IRVING AND EDYTHE

MISEL family LECTURE

speAKeR: Roger Blandford Stanford University

www.ftpi.umn.edu/misel

Public LectureThe Dark Side of the Universe

September 20, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. Memorial Hall,

McNamara Alumni Center

Physics & Astronomy

Colloquium

Higher Energy Astrophysics

September 21, 2011

Theoretical Physics InstituteWilliam I. Fine

The William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute at the University of Minnesota is proud to host the Misel Lecture Series.

Mr. Fine’s bold vision and generous gift to the University, inspired by his genuine interest in physics, were instrumental in the establishment of the Institute and its successful development over the past two decades.

The Misel Lecture Series is endowed by a generous gift from Irving and Edythe Misel to the William I. & Bianca M. Fine Charitable Trust. The Series honors the life-long friendship between William & Bianca Fine and Irving & Edythe Misel.

Irving and Edythe Misel and Famly

http://www.mac-events.org/directions/index.html

ABSTRACTS:The Dark Side of the UniverseOur understanding of the universe is undergoing a revolution. Astronomical measurements have demonstrated that about 21% of universe is in the form of “dark matter,” which gravitationally attracts but is otherwise invisible and most of the remainder (75%) takes the form of “dark energy,” which causes space to expand at an ever-increasing rate. This implies that only a small fraction of the universe is matter that we understand! In this presentation, we will explore the evidence for dark matter and dark energy, as well as the experiments being developed to investigate their fundamental nature.

Higher Energy AstrophysicsAstronomical observations have demonstrated that cosmic sources are capable of accelerating protons and electrons to unexpectedly large energies with surprisingly high effi ciency. Supernova remnants accelerate protons and electrons to nearly a thousand times the energy produced by terrestrial particle accelerators and unspecifi ed, but cosmologically local sources achieve proton energies nearly a million times greater. Recent observations by the Auger, Chandra, Fermi, H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS telescopes will be briefl y summarized and it will be argued that novel particle acceleration mechanisms are at work. Although there is no compelling evidence that new fundamental physics processes are needed, the observations do illustrate some remarkable features of higher energy physics.

The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. To request disability accommodations, please contact Marie Larson at ftpi@physics.

umn.edu, 612-624-7366. This paper contains 10% post-consumer waste.

Roger David Blandford is one of the world’s leading experts in astronomy and astrophysics. His research spans many of the major areas of astronomy and astrophysics; from cosmology, to the properties of specifi c celestial objects such as galaxies and stars, to exploring the phenomena through which we receive the knowledge about distant objects, such as the gravitational lensing and the cosmic rays.

Dr. Blandford is a codiscoverer of the Blandford-Znajek process, an effect through which energy can fl ow out of spinning black holes. This discovery, made in 1977, describes a method for observing black holes in the sky. Spinning black holes are one of the possible remnants of supernova explosions; catastrophic implosions of the inner parts of massive stars with the outer parts exploding in a spectacular display visible through a large portion of the Universe. More recently Dr. Blandford has studied gravitational lensing, the peculiar form of the bending of light caused by gravity. This work may be applied to the interpretation of quasars - enormously intensive sources of energy at the outskirts of the cosmos. Dr. Blandford has also conducted signifi cant studies of the magnetic properties of neutron stars, another type of remnant of supernova explosions. The magnetic fi eld of neutron stars is responsible, among other things, for generating the radio waves through which some of these stars are observed as pulsars. He has also authored fundamental papers on the origin of cosmic rays and gravitational radiation.

Being primarily a theoretical astrophysicist, Dr. Blandford is known for successfully relating theory to specifi c observations and fruitfully collaborating with observers. In particular his work on gravitational lensing, applied to specifi c data, has led to fi nding new unusual faint objects in the sky.

Dr. Blandford is highly respected in the astrophysics community. He was appointed Chair of Astro 2010, a major survey by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, whose purpose is to identify and recommend funding for high-priority research in astronomy and astrophysics over the next decade.

Dr. Blandford received his B.A. in 1970 and his Ph.D. in 1974, from Cambridge University. He joined the faculty of the California Institute of Technology in 1976, and in 1989 became Richard Chace Tolman Professor of

Theoretical Astrophysics there. In 2003 he moved to the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, where he is currently Pehong and Adele Chen Director, Kavli Institute of Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology as well as a Professor of Physics at Stanford University and at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. He was the Chair of the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society during 2004-2006.

Dr. Blandford has been a Fellow of the Royal Society since 1989 and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1993. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2005. Among the numerous awards that he has received for his work are the Helen B. Warner Prize given by the American Astronomical Society (1982), the Dannie Heineman Prize given by the American Astronomical Society (1998), the Eddington Medal given by the Royal Astronomical Society (1999) and Humboldt Research Award of the Humboldt Foundation (2011).

We at the William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute are delighted to welcome Professor Blandford as a distinguished speaker.

Mikhail VoloshinDirector, William I. Fine

Theoretical Physics Institute

ProgramThe Dark Side of

the Universe7:00 P.M., Memorial Hall

McNamara Alumni Center

Welcoming Remarks. . . . . . . . . .Steven CrouchDean, College of Science and Engineering

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mikhail VoloshinDirector, William I. Fine Theoretical Institute

Speaker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Roger BlandfordStanford University

Refreshments to follow in McNamara Atrium

Higher Energy Astrophysics

Physics and Astronomy ColloquiumSeptember 21, 2011 at 3:35PM

131 Tate Lab of PhysicsImage Credits: Abstracts; NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI). Cover: NASA, ESA, D. Coe (NASA Jet Propulsion Lab./California Inst. of Tech.,

and Space Telescope Science Inst.), N. Benitez (Inst. of Astrophysics of Andalusia, Spain), T. Broadhurst (Uni. of the Basque Country, Spain), and H.

Ford (Johns Hopkins Uni.)

6th annualTHE IRVING AND EDYTHE

MISEL family LECTURE