Lecture: The inflated universe - the inflation theory

On Friday evening, Nov. 29, 2024 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., Anne van Weerden MSc (Utrecht University) will give a lecture: The inflated universe - the inflation theory. The lecture is organized by Sterrenwacht Midden Nederland.

The Big Bang theory is a strong theory for the origin of the universe. Many clues have been found for the correctness of this theory, such as the cosmic background radiation. But unfortunately, the theory also has some nasty problems. In the 1980s, the inflation model was created to solve those problems. The idea was that the universe got very much bigger in a very short period of time, from the size of a proton to a grapefruit. That short period would have lasted 10-43 seconds, or 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001s! Of course, a grapefruit is not very big, especially for a universe. So it may not seem "staggering" yet until you consider what is actually 10-43 seconds; so it did go very fast! This theory was called the inflationary model, and the universe "the inflationary universe," freely translated "the inflated universe." This model solved the main problems of the Big Bang theory, but unfortunately it itself created new problems.

Anne van Weerden is a board member of the association for weather and astronomy Galaxis, and holds a bachelor's degree in physics. She works as an information specialist at the Utrecht University Library, and is biographer of Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805-1865), the man behind the Hamiltonian used in all modern physics, and the discoverer of the quaternions, from which vector analysis first emerged and which themselves are now used for digital rotations, in e.g. robotics, animations, virtual reality, and even in the Gaia satellite,

Important information
Location: The Green House in Amersfoort.
Address: Schothorsterlaan 21, 3822 NA Amersfoort.
Date: Friday, November 29, 2024.
Time: 20:00 (the hall opens at 19:30) to 22:00.
Admission: €7.50 - Members free!