University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 2HE
Some 14 billion years ago, the universe was exceedingly smooth.
Today's universe contains over 200 billion galaxies, each displaying an astounding variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. These galaxies are arranged in thin, twisting filaments that stretch for millions of light-years.
For nearly a century, astrophysicists have been dedicated to explaining how galaxies formed, how they are arranged, and why they are so diverse.
Today, using some of the world's most powerful supercomputers, we are close to creating a comprehensive model of how cosmic structures form.
In this talk, Dr. Arif Babul will discuss the successes and challenges of this effort. He will also share surprising outcomes, such as the discovery that galaxies "breathe" by exchanging gas and energy with their surroundings and are shaped by both nature and nurture over cosmic time.
Dr. Arif Babul
Dr. Arif Babul is a distinguished professor at the University of Victoria in Canada. He received his PhD from Princeton University in 1989.
He is a recipient of several prestigious awards for his significant contributions to the study of cosmic structure, including galaxy formation. Most notably, early in his career, he held a NATO Science Fellowship at the University of Cambridge and was elected U.S. National Academy of Science Kavli Fellow.
He was recently elected Fellow of the American Physical Society, and he currently holds both the prestigious Infosys Visiting Chair Professorship at the Indian Institute for Science and a Leverhulme Visiting Professorship at the University of Edinburgh.