Dark matter and dark energy is subject of lecture

NEW PALTZ — The School of Science and Engineering at the State University of New York at New Paltz is sponsoring a colloquium lecture on the subject of dark matter and dark energy in the universe at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 11, in the Coykendall Science Building Auditorium.

The colloquium lecture, titled “Dark Matter, Dark Energy and the Luminous Universe,” will be given by Dr. Yervant Terzian, who holds an endowed chair at Cornell University, where he headed the astronomy department for 20 years.

“Some time ago, astronomers discovered that observable mass in rotating galaxies totals only 10 percent of what is theoretically needed to hold them together,” said Dr. David Clark, associate dean of the School of Science and Engineering at New Paltz and chair of the planning committee for the colloquium series. “Even if this missing 90 percent were located, this would still account for only about 40 percent of the gravity necessary to arrest the expansion of the universe. The 96 percent of our universe that continues to be missing has come to be referred to as ‘dark matter,’ as it has evaded all of our attempts to detect it.

Dr. Terzian will tell us where astronomers are today in their quest to account for this dark matter. His lecture will focus on recent observations of the very early universe that suggest some sort of ‘dark energy’ may be accountable for cosmic dark matter.

The colloquium lecture will be preceded by an informal discussion at 2 p.m. in the Coykendall Science Building Lounge. The discussion is titled, “The Nature of Time.” Both events are open to the public and free.

The School of Science and Engineering was established in 2001 to bring a mathematics and science focus to the SUNY New Paltz campus. It offers bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in chemistry, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, environmental science, geology, mathematics and physics.

For more information, please contact professor David Clark at (845)-257-3728 or e-mail clarkd@newpaltz.edu.