Multiple Universes & Cosmic Inflation - The Quest to Understand Our Universe and Find Others

About a decade ago, scientists established a broad and deep understanding of how the observable universe has evolved from a hot, dense state 13.7 billion years ago. This understanding points to an early epoch during which the universe expanded at a stupendous rate to create the vast amount of space we can observe.  Cosmologists are now coming to believe that this "cosmic inflation" may do much more: In many versions, inflation goes on forever, generating not just our observable universe but also infinitely many such regions with similar or different properties, together forming a staggeringly complex and vast "multiverse".

In this talk, Dr. Aguirre will trace the genesis of this idea of "cosmic inflation", explore some of its implications, and discuss how cosmologists are currently seeking ways to test this idea by actually searching for hints of other universes. Don't miss this introduction to one of the most mind-boggling parts of modern astronomy.

Speaker: Dr. Anthony Aguirre, UC Santa Cruz