Talk by Professor Alexander Vilenkin, Institute of Cosmology, Tufts University, USA at QASTM seminar
Channel: Sayantan Choudhury
Date: 13/08/2020

Title: "Black holes from cosmic inflation".

Abstract:

Cosmic inflation is a period of rapid, accelerated expansion in the early history of the universe.  Inflation explains some puzzling features of the big bang that had to be postulated before and makes predictions that have been confirmed by observations.  In this talk, I will argue that inflation generically predicts the formation of black holes with a very wide spectrum of masses. This effect may account for supermassive black holes observed at the centers of most galaxies, for black hole mergers observed by the LIGO interferometer, and for the mysterious dark matter.  It also has important implications for the global structure of the universe.

Speaker: Professor Alexander Vilenkin, Director, Institute of Cosmology, and L. and J. Bernstein Professor of Evolutionary Science, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA.

Zoominar  Link: https://mpi-aei.zoom.us/j/97623339163

Date and Time: 13 th August, 3.30 PM to 6:00 PM (Berlin Time Zone)

Contact: Dr. Sayantan Choudhury (sayantan.choudhury@aei.mpg.de)