The Quantum and the Cosmos to be Featured in October 8 Physics Neff Lecture

Edward “Rocky” Kolb, The University of Chicago, will present the fall 2024 Neff lecture titled “The Quantum and the Cosmos,” on Tuesday, October 8, at 4:30 p.m. in Room 103 of Cardwell Hall at Kansas State University. The lecture will be at a non-technical level and all are invited to attend.

While the laws of the quantum rule the submicroscopic world, the action of quantum mechanics in the big bang produced the largest structures in the cosmos. Kolb will discuss how the connection between the quantum and the cosmos may explain the nature of the dark matter holding together our galaxy.

Rocky is the Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Service Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at The University of Chicago. He is also a member of the Enrico Fermi Institute and the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics. In 1983 he was a founding head of the Theoretical Astrophysics Group at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and in 2004 the founding Director of the Particle Astrophysics Center at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois,

Kolb is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Among his many accomplishments, he was recipient of the 2024 Lilienfeld Prize of the American Physical Society, the 2010 Dannie Heineman Prize of the American Institute of Physics, and the 2003 Oersted Medal of the American Association of Physics Teachers.

His book, Blind Watchers of the Sky, which was written for the general public, received the 1996 Emme Award of the American Aeronautical Society. He also co-authored The Early Universe, the standard textbook on particle physics and cosmology in addition to more than 200 scientific papers.

Light refreshments will be served prior to the lecture at 4:00 p.m. in Room 119 of Cardwell Hall.

This lecture series is supported by an endowment from Dr. James R. Neff in honor of his parents – Everett & Florine Neff.