| Abstract: | The Standard Models of particle physics and cosmology are marvelous descriptions of all that we can see, from the smallest to the largest scales. In recent years new tools and developments have allowed us to aim for much deeper understandings. In the colloquium, it will be explained that string theory is exciting because it addresses the issues we want to understand, both about how the natural world works at the deepest levels, and why it works the way it does. It will be described how string theory is testable in basically the same ways the rest of physics is. In the first seminar, Professor Kane will explain how he and his collaborators have recently been able to go from M theory in 11 dimensions to explicit predictions for dark matter and LHC data, using reasonable and eventually checkable assumptions at stages where the string theory understanding is not yet complete. In the second seminar he will show that, using satellite and ground-based experiments in combination with LHC data, we can hope to learn about what the dark matter of the universe actually is, not just how much there is. He will also discuss implications of the recently reported dark matter-like signal from the PAMELA satellite experiment. While the seminars will contain technical material they should be accessible to interested physicists and graduate students. |
