Program

19:30 Doors open
19:45 – 20:15 Elephant (live music)
20:30 – 21:00 Hiroshi Ooguri
21:00 – 21:30 Andrew Strominger
21:30 – 21:45 Q&A
21:45 – 23:00 DJ Mulat
Event in English, semi-seated

What is gravity?

Gravity is the most familiar force in Nature. It binds us to the surface of Earth, and it is a key to our understanding of the Universe. It is also the most mysterious of all forces. In the past couple of decades, there have been remarkable discoveries in both theory and observations that have changed our view on space, time, and gravity. Hirosi Ooguri will give you a tour of the seven wonders of gravity and discusses these recent insights.

Black Holes: the Most Paradoxical Objects in the Universe

In the last decade black holes have come to center stage in both theoretical and observational science. Half a century ago, scientists like Stephen Hawking proved theoretically that they obey a precise, but still mysterious set of laws. This makes them paradoxically the simplest and most complex objects in the universe, though recent compelling progress on this paradox has been made. Observationally, they have finally and dramatically been seen in the sky, including at LIGO and the Event Horizon Telescope. Future prospects for progress on both fronts hinge on emergent symmetries occurring near black holes. An elementary presentation of aspects of these topics and their interplay will be given Andrew Strominger.

Hiroshi Ooguri 

Hiroshi Ooguri is a theoretical physicist working on quantum field theory, quantum gravity, superstring theory, and their interfaces with mathematics. He is Fred Kavli Professor of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics and the Founding Director of the Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics at California Institute of Technology. He is also the director of the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics at the University of Tokyo and is the chair of the board of trustees of the Aspen Center for Physics in Colorado. He has received multiple awards including the Leonard Einsenbud Prize for Mathematics and Physics, the Hamburg Prize for Theoretical Physics and the Nishina Memorial Prize in Japan. Ooguri's popular science books have sold over a quarter million copies in Japan, and one of them was awarded the Kodansha Prize for Science Books. 

Website: https://ooguri.caltech.edu/

Andrew Strominger

Andrew Strominger is is a theoretical physicist who is the director of Harvard's Center for the Fundamental Laws of Nature. He has made significant contributions to quantum gravity and string theory. These include his work on Calabi–Yau compactification and topology change in string theory, and on the stringy origin of black hole entropy. He is a senior fellow at the Society of Fellows, and is the Gwill E. York Professor of Physics. In recognition of his accomplishments, Strominger has been awarded numerous prizes, fellowships, and honorary professorships. These include the Klein Medal from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the 2014 Dirac Medal from the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, which he received for his contributions to the origin, development, and further understanding of string theory. Furthermore, he received the Physics Frontiers Breakthrough Prize from the Milner Foundation.

Website: https://www.physics.harvard.edu/people/facpages/strominger

About Science & Cocktails

This event is an initiative by the Dutch Institute for Emergent Phenomena (DIEP) with the support of NWA route 2. Science & Cocktails Amsterdam is presented in cooperation with Paradiso. This episode is integrated in the Amsterdam String Theory Workshop 2022 and the Verlinde^2 fest.

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Location

Paradiso Main Hall is on the Weteringschans 6-8 in Amsterdam. That is very close to Leidseplein. From every part of the city there are trams heading towards Leidseplein. From there on out you can walk to Paradiso. Travelling by car is difficult, since there are only a few busy parking lots nearby.  

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