The Higgs Boson and the Fate of the Universe – with Professor Rajantie
Event Description
public in-person lecture
Exploring bosons, destructive bubbles and the fundamental laws of nature…
Arttu Rajantie - Professor of Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics and the Abdus Salam Centre for Theoretical Physics, Imperial.
When the Higgs boson was discovered at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012, its mass turned out to lie in a narrow and very special range. According to the Standard Model of particle physics, this implies that the current vacuum state of the Universe is not absolutely stable. Instead, it appears to be metastable - destined, eventually, to decay through the spontaneous production of bubbles, which would expand at the speed of light, destroying everything they encounter, including spacetime itself.
Clearly, this has not happened, at least not yet. But why not? In this talk, Professor Rajantie will explore what this apparent metastability might be telling us about the fundamental laws of nature, and what it could reveal about the beginning and the ultimate fate of the Universe.
Arttu Rajantie is Professor of Theoretical Physics in the Department of Physics and the Abdus Salam Centre for Theoretical Physics at Imperial College. After receiving his PhD from the University of Helsinki, he held postdoctoral positions at the Universities of Sussex and Cambridge before joining Imperial in 2005.
His research spans theoretical cosmology and particle physics, with a particular focus on non-perturbative quantum field theory phenomena such as vacuum decay.
This event is open to everyone, simply book places below.
We do not issue tickets, the email sent to you upon booking will act as your confirmation.
The location for this event is the Skempton Building, South Kensington Campus, Imperial College London, SW7 2BX. Nearer the time you will be sent an email with the specific lecture theatre. The event will finish around 8.20pm and then refreshments will be available for Friends networking.
If you are a Member of Friends, one of the benefits of an annual Membership is a reduction in the price of lecture tickets, both for you and your guests. If you are not a Member and would like to take advantage of this, as well as enjoying the wide range of other benefits such as exclusive visits and FREE live streamed events, visit the 'Join Friends' page here.
