New Challenges in Cosmology

Aim

To promote scientific work in the field of cosmology in Hamburg, inform the general public of significant research findings and foster the interdisciplinary dialogue on questions of cosmology from a physical, philosophical and theological perspective.

Project description

The work is currently shaped by groundbreaking achievements from recent years:

  • Discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN in 2012
  • Precise measurement of cosmic microwave background by the Planck satellites in 2013
  • Detection of gravitational waves by the LIGO scientific collaboration in 2016

Past and future activities

  • Intensification and networking of the international cooperation
  • Discussion of the implications of future experimental data from particle physics [LHC] and upcoming cosmological and astrophysical observations
  • Academy lecture in summer 2017 on gravitational waves
  • January–March 2015: public lecture series on "The Origins of the Universe" in cooperation with Hamburg Planetarium
  • 27–29 January 2014: conference on "Inflation after Planck" with a public lecture by Simon White on "Blazing trails from the big bang - the origins of the universe and the ESA’s Planck mission"
  • 18–20 April 2012: conference on the "Implications of the early LHC for cosmology" with a public lecture by Peter Schleper on "The Higgs boson - a search beyond the boundaries of physics"
  • Winter semester 2009/10: Academy lecture series "In the beginning ... On the origins of the universe"
  • Winter semester 2008/09: public lecture series on "The Origins of the Universe" in cooperation with Hamburg Planetarium