Talk by Yale astronomer Natarajan to unveil ‘the dark side of the universe’

“Unveiling the Dark Side of the Universe” is the topic of the next talk in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences’ In the Company of Scholars series on Tuesday, April 14.

Priyamvada Natarajan, professor of astronomy and physics, will present the talk at 4 p.m. in Rm. 110 of the Hall of Graduate Studies, 320 York St. The Yale community is invited.

The lecture will also be livestreamed on Yale YouTube.

Natarajan is a theoretical astrophysicist interested in cosmology, gravitational lensing and black hole physics. Noting that 2015 marks the centenary of Einstein’s foundational paper on General Relativity, the theory that underpins much of her work, Natarajan writes:

“General Relativity established that the geometry, contents, and fate of the universe are inextricably linked. This relationship, predicted by the theory, has been extensively tested. We now know that the two major constituents of our universe are dark matter and dark energy. Direct evidence for them, however, continues to elude us.

“Dark matter, as yet undetected, is believed to be an exotic particle created in the infant universe. Dark energy, meanwhile, is thought to be the mysterious force driving the accelerating expansion of the universe. One of the key predictions of General Relativity is the bending of light by mass–gravitational lensing. The presence of dark matter is therefore revealed by the bending and distortion of light beams that it creates.

“Massive clusters of galaxies contain copious amounts of dark matter and act as efficient light-deflecting lenses. Exquisite images of these taken by the Hubble Space Telescope as part of the Frontier Fields project are providing cosmic mass maps of unprecedented accuracy and providing deep insights into the dark side of the universe — dark matter and dark energy. I will present new results from these data and explain their implications for current theories of structure formation in the universe.”

In the Company of Scholars is sponsored by Lynn Cooley, dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.