Reporters: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN
Press Release 1/1/2013
Building blocks of the universe: Top physicists teach about early galaxy formation at Jerusalem Winter School in Theoretical PhysicsHeaded by Nobel Laureate, ten day School runs December 31 to January 10
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Galaxies in formation |
The 30th Jerusalem Winter School in Theoretical Physics opens on December 31 at the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The topic this year is Early Galaxy Formation in LCDM Cosmology. One hundred students from around the world will participate in lectures and workshops by world-renowned experts in the field.
The 2004 Nobel Laureate in Physics and Hebrew University alumnus Prof. David Gross will head the school for the sixth time. Prof. Gross earned his bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction, the force operating between quarks.
Prof. Avishai Dekel, the Andre Aisenstadt Chair of Theoretical Physics at the Hebrew University’s Racah Institute of Physics, will manage the school with Prof. Reinhard Genzel from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. According to Prof. Dekel, ”Galaxy formation is the hot topic in physical cosmology today. Galaxies are the building blocks of the universe, and understanding the evolution of galaxies is an important step in understanding the formation of planets and life in the universe.”
Prof. Dekel is one of the world’s leading theoretical cosmologists. He developed the modern theory of galaxy evolution by flow of cold material from the cosmic fabric. In recent years he has focused on the early universe, one to five billion years after the Big Bang.
”The lectures at the school will start with the basics and reach the most advanced issues in current research,” added Prof. Dekel. “My research, for example, deals with a model for galaxy formation by streams of cold gas. This model replaces the hitherto accepted model, whereby the most influential process on galaxy evolution was clashes between galaxies.”
Professor Reinhard Genzel from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics is one of the leading researchers in the subject of galaxy formation. He discovered the black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy and he is one of the most prominent researchers of galaxies in the early universe. During the School he will talk about the evolution of galaxies.
The Winter School in Theoretical Physics takes place from 31 December to 10 January. All lectures are in English at the Israel Institute of Advanced Studies, Feldman Building, Edmond J. Safra campus in Givat Ram. Registration is required by email to shani@ias.huji.ac.il.
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