Oct 29 2025

Colloquium- “LambdaCDM:  Much more than we expected, but now less than what we want” with Professor Michael S. Turner (UCLA and University of Chicago)

Colloquium

October 29, 2025

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Location

238 2SES

Calendar

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LambdaCDM describes the evolution of the Universe from a very early time when all structures were quantum fluctuations on subatomic scales to the present when the expansion is accelerating due to dark energy.  It is consistent with a wealth of high-precision data.  Beyond its foundation of the Standard Model of particle physics and General Relativity, it also involves new physics: dark matter (in the form of a new particle of nature), dark energy (in the form of Einstein’s cosmological constant Lambda) and cosmic inflation (based upon a scalar field beyond the Higgs).  Until this new physics is clarified, LambdaCDM is incomplete.  I will discuss how the path forward might involve the Hubble tension or evolving dark energy.

Michael S. Turner is a visiting Professor of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA and the Rauner Distinguished Service Professor (emeritus) at UChicago. Previous positions include Fermilab, Assistant Director for the Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the U.S. NSF, and President of the American Physical Society. Turner’s contributions include predicting cosmic acceleration and coining the term dark energy, showing how quantum fluctuations evolved into the seed perturbations for galaxies and other cosmic structures during inflation, and several key ideas that led to the cold dark matter theory of structure formation. Turner is a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society, the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences in 1997 and the American Philosophical Society in 2017.

Turner played a major role in bringing together elementary-particle physics and astrophysics/cosmology, through his scientific contributions, his students, and his leadership. The Early Universe, written with E.W. Kolb, has served as the handbook for the field, and the National Academies study, Quarks to the Cosmos, he led laid out the strategic vision. He just co-chaired the National Academies study Elementary-particle Physics: The Higgs and Beyond, a 40-year strategic vision for the field in the U.S.

Contact

Physics Office
physannounce@uic.edu

Date posted

Sep 24, 2025

Date updated

Oct 22, 2025