"Seeing the Invisible: Dark Matter in the Universe"

J. Anthony Tyson
Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies

Thursday, December 6, 2000
3:30 p.m.
Main Building Auditorium
3141 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Something unseen and massive determines the fate of our universe. Dark matter pervades the cosmos and guides the formation of structure. Dark matter is revealed by the way it warps images of background galaxies, a cosmic mirage. Ultra-faint images taken with large optical telescopes show a sky crowded with distant faint galaxies. Computer processing of the image warp pattern yields an image of the intervening dark matter. Recently discovered clusters of dark matter will be shown. Mapping these "space-time warps" as they developed over cosmic time is now technically feasible, opening a new window on the origins of our universe, and its dark mass-energy. Exciting plans for this exploration of dark mass-energy will be shown.

Tony Tyson is a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff at Bell Labs. He graduated from Stanford University in 1962, and received a PhD in physics from the University of Wisconsin in 1967. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago, he joined Bell Laboratories in 1969. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.

Tyson's research has been in experimental gravitation, superfluid helium, cosmology, optical instrumentation for low-light-level imaging, pattern recognition and oceanography. His current astrophysics research centers on experimental cosmology, specifically observational probes of dark matter and dark energy in the universe. He has led the development of cameras and analysis techniques for ground-based imaging of the distant, younger universe. His innovative, pioneering work on galaxy counts and gravitational lensing has advanced understanding of the evolution of galaxies and of the Universe. He was featured in the PBS series "The Astronomers."

High School Open House Program:

12:30 - 1:00 p.m. Main Building Auditorium

1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Department of Physics Open House
Brief presentations on Biophysics, Astrophysics, Computational Physics, Condensed Matter, Nonlinear Dynamics, Particle Physics, etc. An excellent opportunity for high school students to visit our laboratories and meet in person with our internationally recognized researchers.

3:00 - 3:30 p.m. Reception

About the Kaczmarczik Lecture

Paul Kaczmarczik began his career as a Professor of Physics at Drexel University in 1953. A key player in building the Physics and Atmospheric Science Department, he made important contributions to teaching at Drexel University during his many years of service. Well-liked by both his colleagues and his students, Professor Kaczmarczik became Professor Emeritus in 1989. The Kaczmarczik Lecture Series was established in 1995 in honor of Professor Kaczmarczik. It brings to Drexel outstanding scientists to present lectures on topics at the cutting edge of Physics research.