Speaker
Prof.
Frank Wilczek
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Stockholm University)
Description
The explanation of approximate time reversal symmetry, based
on deep general principles, is one of the great triumphs of
modern physics. It has an annoying gap, however. The most
convincing ideas to repair the gap lead us to predict the
existence of a new kind of particle, the axion, with
remarkable properties. If axions exist, it is likely that
they make a substantial contribution to the dark matter of
the universe. Experiments to detect axions are
challenging, but ambitious efforts are underway. The
equations of axions also emerge (with different parameters)
as the effective description of interesting condensed matter
systems, and in that context have inspired some beautiful
experiments.
Primary author
Prof.
Frank Wilczek
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Stockholm University)
