Perimeter Institute: A deeper understanding of the universe from 2km underground
Arthur B. McDonald, Professor Emeritus, Queen's University
In his Perimeter Public Lecture, 2015 Nobel Prize-winner Art McDonald will explain how researchers created an ultra-clean underground lab to obtain otherwise-impossible measurements to study fundamental physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) was a 1,000-tonne heavy-water-based neutrino detector created 2 km underground in a mine near Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
SNO has used neutrinos from 8B decay in the Sun to observe one neutrino reaction sensitive only to solar electron neutrinos and others sensitive to all active neutrino flavours. It found clear evidence for neutrino flavour change that also requires that neutrinos have non-zero mass. This evidence requires modification of the Standard Model for elementary particles, and confirms solar model calculations with great accuracy. The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics and the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics were awarded for these measurements.
Future measurements at the expanded SNOLAB facility will search for dark matter particles thought to make up 26% of our universe, and rare forms of radioactivity that can tell us further fundamental properties of neutrinos potentially related to the origin of our matter-dominated universe.
About Arthur B. McDonald
Arthur McDonald is a native of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. He has degrees in physics from Dalhousie University (BSc, MSc) and Caltech (PhD) and seven honorary degrees. From 1969-1982 he was a Research Officer at AECL Chalk River Laboratories; 1982-1989, Professor at Princeton University; 1989-2013 Professor at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada and 2013 became Professor Emeritus. Since 1989 he has been Director of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) Scientific Collaboration. Among many awards, he is a Companion of the Order of Canada, Co-recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics and the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics with the SNO Collaboration. He continues to be active in basic research in neutrinos and dark matter at the SNOLAB underground laboratory. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Perimeter Institute.
Following his talk, McDonald will answer questions from the online and in-house audience – including questions submitted prior to and during the talk via Facebook and Twitter (using the hashtag #piLIVE). Questions are welcomed from everyone – aspiring scientific explorers, school classes, physics and chemistry buffs, and general science enthusiasts.
NEW WAITING LINE EXPERIENCE
There will be a waiting line for last minute cancelled (or ‘no show’) seats on the night of the lecture. Doors open at 5:30 pm. Come to Perimeter and pick-up a waiting line chit at the Waiting Line sign and then participate in pre-lecture activities - no need to wait in line. An announcement will be made in the Bistro at 6:45pm if theatre seats are available. Note: you must arrive in person to be part of the waiting line and be in the Bistro when the waiting line announcement is made.
NO DISAPPOINTMENTS
Everyone who comes to Perimeter will be able to participate in the lecture. The public lecture will be shown simultaneously on closed circuit television in the licensed comfort of the Black Hole Bistro for any members of the waiting line who are not able to get a theatre seat.
LIVE WEBCAST ONLINE
Enjoy the live webcast of Perimeter Institute Public Lectures from the comfort of your own home. Join us at 7pm ET night of the lecture and be part of the ONLINE virtual audience.
For most lectures the on-demand playback will be online within 24 hours after the live event. Check our YouTube page for the playbacks.
Who can attend: Everyone
Fee: Attendance to the lecture is free, but advance tickets are required. Due to the overwhelming response to past lectures, tickets will be honoured until 6:45 pm only. If you have not arrived by 6:45 pm your reservation may be filled by guests in the waiting line, and you may be asked to join the end of the waiting line.
Tickets: Tickets will be available online on Monday, March 21 starting at 9:00am
Organized by: Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Location: Perimeter Institute, Mike Lazaridis Theatre of Ideas, 31 Caroline St. N., Waterloo, ON
http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/outreach/general-public/public-lecture-series