Meet the Scientist Virtual Event: Dr. Sebastian Fischetti

Join UtSTA for a one hour event with Dr. Sebastian Fischetti 

Black Holes and Beyond

UtSTA Members - FREE - If you would like to donate to the Richard Tolman Scholarship do so under the donations button at the bottom of the home page.

Nonmembers will be $30.00. (become a member and attend for free). All proceeds go to the Richard Tolman Scholarship

This will be a one hour virtual event where Sebastian will share his passion of science with us. What do black holes have in common with glasses?

Black holes are some of the most extreme objects in the universe: they
are places where gravity is so strong that not even light can escape. 
This makes them exciting, but why do some theoretical physicists study them so much?  In this talk, I'll explain how black holes lead to a
fundamental contradiction between our theories of quantum mechanics and gravity, and how trying to resolve this contradiction helps us make
progress towards a unified theory of quantum gravity.  I'll briefly
touch upon developments from the past few years suggesting that perhaps the resolution involves thinking of gravity as an "average" of theoriesin a surprisingly similar way to how we understand certain types of glassy systems. An understanding of quantum gravity is my primary research interest, which I pursue by focusing on black holes: objects massive enough but also dense enough that both general relativity and quantum mechanics are needed to describe their behavior. It turns out that describing black holes thoroughly requires drawing insight from many branches of physics, ranging from gravity to quantum information to condensed matter to high-energy physics.

When you register, please enter your CACTUS number if you would like to receive one relicensure point.

NOTE: If you are not a current member of UtSTA you can renew your membership or join the Utah Science Teachers Association today ($20-35/year) and save money on your registration costs.  To join today, CLICK HERE.