Renowned physicist Hitoshi Murayama will give a public lecture on "The Quantum Universe" at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, August 14, at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz. Tickets are $5 and are available at santacruztickets.com.
A popular speaker, Murayama is an expert in the theory of elementary particle interactions, including the mysterious nature of dark matter in the universe. He is a professor of physics at UC Berkeley and director of the Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU) at the University of Tokyo.
The universe was once much smaller than the size of an atom. Small things mattered in the small universe, where quantum physics dominated the scene. In his talk, Murayama will address fundamental questions about the origins of the universe and discuss the efforts of physicists to solve remaining major puzzles.
"He is one of the very best science communicators that I have ever known," said Young-Kee Kim, deputy director of Fermilab. "He has the incredible ability of energizing and exciting the public all the way from elementary school students and graduate students to senior citizens."
Murayama's public talk is part of the biennial meeting of the Division of Particles and Fields of the American Physical Society (APS), which is being held this year at UC Santa Cruz from August 13 through 17. The meeting is hosted by the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics (SCIPP) at UCSC. This meeting brings together junior and senior researchers from across the many disciplines related to particle physics.
For more information about Murayama's talk, please call (831) 459-3571.
