Séminaire de probabilités et physique statistique de l'IHES

The Statistical Mechanics of the Universe

by Prof. Jürg FRÖHLICH (ETH Zürich & IHES)

Europe/Paris
Amphithéâtre Léon Motchane (IHES)

Amphithéâtre Léon Motchane

IHES

Le Bois-Marie 35, route de Chartres 91440 Bures-sur-Yvette
Description

This is an informal, yet hopefully entertaining talk by a non-expert. After a short (and undoubtedly
incomplete) discussion of some basic puzzles confronting present-day cosmology, I recall the Friedmann Equations for the evolution of a homogeneous, isotropic universe and then proceed to describe the quantum-mechanical state of the universe shortly after inflation. This leads me to speculate about a possible mechanism, based on the chiral magnetic effect, for the growth of intergalactic magnetic fields in the early universe. This mechanism is a fourdimensional cousin of the quantum Hall effect. I then discuss ideas how to unify models of Dark Matter and Dark Energy into a single theory, which, in addition, might shed light on the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe.

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