Cosmology at the Microscopic Scale : Paul Padley (Rice University)
*** Cancelled *** Abstract Biography Host: Prof. Carlos Ordonez (ext. 3-3586) 634 S&R 1 - 4PM
With the turn on of the LHC, it becomes possible to put to the test theories about cosmology that have been postulated. Experiments at the LHC will be able to look for dark matter, extra dimensions and black holes for example. A simple presentation of these ideas will be given, along with examples of how to look for these things at the LHC. There will also be an update on the status of the accelerator and the experiments that will be used to perform these studies.
Paul Padley completed his Ph.D. at the real UT, (the University of Toronto) in 1987 working on the ARGUS experiment. From there he went to TRIUMF in Vancouver and worked on a rare kaon decay experiment at Brookhaven (such is the commuting life of a particle physicist). Subsequently he became a scientist at the Superconducting Super Collider in Dallas TX until congress decided to yank the plug on that project. Since the termination of the SSC it has been possible to find him wandering around Rice University contemplating the composition of the universe. He was a member of the DZero experiment (which discovered the top quark) and has spent more than a decade helping build and commission one of the large LHC detectors, CMS. He tries to teach physics to students at Rice, has given several continuing studies courses to the public, and once contributed to an episode of the Magic Schoolbus.