Nobel Laureate Brian Schmidt Speaks at UCAS

Published: 2015-09-09
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Prof. Brian Schmidt, a professor from the Australian National University, who shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess for providing evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, spoke concerning "The accelerating universe: a Nobel Prize millennia in the making" at UCAS on the afternoon of 8 September, 2015.

Prof. Schmidt introduced the standard model, the homogeneous universe, the history of the High-Z Team and dark energy. He described groundbreaking discoveries and explained how astronomers tracked the Universe to more than 13 billion years ago, and what they feel its future might be. Despite the inevitable difficulties physics research is facing, "Unless Dark Energy suddenly disappears, the Universe will at an ever increasing rate expand and fade away." he stressed.

After the lecture, Prof. Schmidt had a discussion with the audience, answering questions concerning astrophysics, black holes and the expanding universe.

Brian Schmidt is a Distinguished Professor, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and astrophysicist. He received undergraduate degrees in Astronomy and Physics from the University of Arizona in 1989, and completed his Astronomy Master’s degree (1992) and PhD (1993) at Harvard University. Prof. Schmidt is known for his research in using supernovae as cosmological probes. He currently holds an Australia Research Council Federation Fellowship and was elected to the Royal Society in 2012.

The lecture, hosted by UCAS Vice-President Prof. Wu Yueliang, was attended by scholars, experts, UCAS faculty, Chinese and international graduate students.

Written by Zhang Min