Jan 23
SNF Parkway Theatre Baltimore, MD
TicketsDavid Kaplan
Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University
andSean Carroll
Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Johns Hopkins University
Particle Fever— Uncover the secrets of the universe
Program Description
After the screening, David Kaplan, producer of the film and Professor of Physics at Johns Hopkins University, will be joined by Sean Carroll, Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and celebrated author, for an engaging discussion about how recent advances in particle physics are reshaping our understanding of reality. Together, they will provide deeper insights into the discoveries explored in the film and offer a glimpse into what lies ahead in the field.
Film Synopsis
As the Large Hadron Collider is about to be launched for the first time, physicists are on the cusp of the greatest scientific discovery of all time—or perhaps their greatest failure.
Particle Fever follows six brilliant scientists during the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, marking the start of the biggest and most expensive experiment in the history of the planet, pushing the edge of human innovation. As they seek to unravel the mysteries of the universe, 10,000 scientists from over 100 countries joined forces in pursuit of a single goal: to recreate conditions that existed just moments after the Big Bang and find the Higgs boson, potentially explaining the origin of all matter. But our heroes confront an even bigger challenge: have we reached our limit in understanding why we exist?
About the Speaker
David E. Kaplan received his PhD from the University of Washington in 1999. He had postdocs at the University of Chicago/Argonne National Lab and SLAC and joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins in 2002. Kaplan discovers possible theoretical extensions to the standard model of particle physics and cosmology, and then novel ways to discover those and other models. Kaplan is a Fellow of the APS, and has been named an Outstanding Junior Investigator by the DOE, a Kavli Frontiers Fellow of the NAS, and an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. He has also created and produced the documentary film, Particle Fever, for which he has won a DuPont Journalism Award, and other accolades.
Sean is interested in how the world works at the deepest levels, which leads him to do research in physics and philosophy. His current interests include foundational questions in quantum mechanics, spacetime, statistical mechanics, complexity, and cosmology, with occasional dabblings elsewhere. His new book is The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Quanta and Fields, where he introduces modern physics with all the details, in a way accessible to anyone. He hosts a podcast, Mindscape, where he interview smart people about all sorts of interesting ideas. He is the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins, and is also Fractal Faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. He lives in Baltimore with his wife, writer Jennifer Ouellette, and two cats, Ariel and Caliban.