The University of New Mexico

NEWS RELEASE

Media Contact:  Steve Carr, 277-1821
Email: scarr@unm.edu

September 21, 2009

The Mysterious Universe
Exploring our World with Particle Accelerators

The University of New Mexico will host a public lecture, “The Mysterious Universe, Exploring our World with Particle Accelerators” on Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. in the Anthropology Lecture Hall, Room 163.  Professor James E. Brau, Knight Professor of Natural Science at the University of Oregon, and co-chair of the American Linear Collider Physics Group will discuss “Dark Matter” and Dark Energy.”

The lecture is part of a five-day international conference on future accelerators organized by the American Linear Collider Physics Group.

While modern science has established deep understanding of the matter we know, it is the elements we do not know that dominate the structure of the universe, its behavior and its destiny.  What are these curious elements? Scientists are now searching for answers to these and other challenging questions with experiments at particle accelerators on Earth, and with satellites in space.  Results of this research may revolutionize our view of nature as dramatically as the theories of Einstein and other quantum pioneers one hundred years ago.

Brau’s lecture is aimed at a general audience; high-school students are especially welcome.  He will explain the mysteries and present our current understanding of the underlying science.  The presentation will be at an introductory level, appropriate for anyone interested in physics and astronomy.

For information on the international conference on future accelerators, go to http://panda.unm.edu/LCWA09.

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