We are very excited to have Neil Turok for the next installment of the Bisan Lecture Series, on Wednesday January 8th, at 7PM Palestine time. Register here to get the Zoom link!
We are very excited to have Neil Turok for the next installment of the Bisan Lecture Series, on Wednesday January 8th, at 7PM Palestine time.
Register here to get the Zoom link!
Title: A Simple Cosmology
Abstract: Observational cosmology has progressed in leaps and bounds over the past few decades, revealing remarkable simplicity in the large-scale universe. Likewise, experiments probing the tiniest scales have detected no deviations from previously known physics. These findings were not what most theorists expected. According to the dominant theoretical paradigm – a combination of string theory and inflation – the universe is expected to be extremely complex on tiny scales and wildly chaotic and unpredictable on very large scales. What should we make of the apparent discrepancy? Perhaps, when observations and experiments reach small or large enough scales, the asserted complexity will be revealed. More interesting, in my view, is the possibility that the universe really is simple and predictable on large and small scales. If so, we may be closer to understanding nature’s basic laws than we imagined. I will review a new hypothesis, that the big bang is a kind of mirror which ensures that the universe respects the basic symmetry of its governing laws. This simple idea turns out to provide radical new theoretical foundations for cosmology as well as several testable predictions. The big bang singularity is resolved and the observed, large-scale geometry is explained. The dark matter consists of stable, right-handed neutrinos and the lightest neutrino is predicted to be massless. Several theoretical anomalies are resolved by a mechanism which predicts precisely 3 generations of elementary particles. These developments suggest an exciting road map for the future.
Bio: Neil Turok, a distinguished theoretical physicist, holds the Carlo Fidani Roger Penrose Distinguished Visiting Research Chair in Theoretical Physics. He was the Director of the Perimeter Institute (2008–2019). Turok’s research includes key contributions to cosmology, including confirming predictions of standard cosmology regarding the cosmic background radiation (CBR) and dark energy. He co-discovered instanton solutions with Stephen Hawking. He has received several prestigious awards, including the James Clerk Maxwell Medal and the Lane Anderson Award for his book The Universe Within. Born in South Africa, Turok founded the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in 2003, which has grown into a renowned network of six postgraduate training centers across Africa. His efforts in science and education have earned global recognition, including the TED Prize and the John Torrence Tate Medal.
Register here! You can find the list of previous and upcoming lectures on our website.
In our last session of the Bisan Lecture Series, we held a conversation with journalist and activist Orly Noy about the varieties of ways in which the Israeli society has reacted to the Hamas attack on 7th October 2023 and then to the genocidal war immediately launched by Israel against Gaza. Orly started by drawing a general picture of the mechanisms shaping the “common sense” of the bulk of the Israeli society, and then moved over to discuss differences: she explained the uniqueness of the present extreme right-wing government, but also the ways it continues the lines that have been there in previous governments. She then analyzed the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary Zionist opposition – emphasizing its almost total complicity with the government’s militant policy. Given the contrast between this complicity and the huge demonstrations held a couple of years ago against the judicial reform – and also the current differences in reaction towards the hostages’ issue – Orly touched upon the demographics in Israeli society which unite its attitude towards the army yet bear differences in attitude towards the wish to see Israel as a democracy and the notion of a Jewish democracy as devoid of tension. Finally, she shed light on the situation of the Palestinian citizens of Israel and on non-Zionist activist groups, especially those who have demonstrated against the war on Gaza since its beginning. The website will be updated soon with a link to the recording and notes, in the meantime you can watch the video of Orly’s lecture here.
This lecture is sponsored by the Bisan Center for Research and Development and Scientists for Palestine.
In light of the urgent need to assist the people of Gaza, who are currently experiencing immeasurable loss of life and widespread devastation, please read this humanitarian aid appeal from ANERA, forwarded to us by a friend of BLS, Dr. Sara Roy of Harvard University. Hoping to see many of you at this webinar, we send you our best regards.
The Bisan Lecture Series Steering Committee
BLS Statement of purpose In concert with Scientists for Palestine and the Bisan Center for Research and Development, and in keeping with their joint commitment to full integration of Palestine in the global community of learning, the Bisan Lecture Series sponsors discourses on subjects of cultural, scientific, and societal importance by leading research experts and public intellectuals of varied heritage and viewpoint. The interactive webinars are free and open to the public, and recordings of each will be posted soon afterward.