The Invisible Universe: The Higgs Boson, Dark Matter and Gravitational Waves

Most of the universe is invisible, but the invisibles determine our everyday existence. There is an invisible energy field, related to the Higgs boson, that provides mass. There is dark matter that holds our galaxy together, but we have yet to detect it in the laboratory. We have only recently learned how to detect gravity waves – ripples in spacetime – coming from the far corners of the cosmos, and possibly from dramatic events in the early universe.

The CERN Large Hadron Collider may produce signals of dark matter, new forces of nature or cousins of the Higgs boson. Discoveries from the LHC and from other experiments and observatories will be needed to pull together a coherent picture of the invisible world and explain the first instants of the Big Bang.

Agenda

• 3 p.m. – Refreshments 
• 3:30 p.m. – Departmental prizes and scholarships
• 3:45 p.m. – The Vaden Miles Memorial Lecture

About Marcela Carena

Professor Marcela Carena is the executive director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada. She is also a physics professor at the University of Chicago, where she has been a member of both the Enrico Fermi Institute and the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics.

Carena is a renowned particle physicist who has advanced our understanding of fundamental mysteries of science related to sourcing the mass of the fundamental particles in nature, the origin of matter in the universe and the nature of dark matter. Her most recent research program explores particle physics and quantum information to tackle problems of quantum theory in the early universe.

Professor Carena is an original co-author of the Status of the Higgs Boson review of the “Particle Data Book.” In 2022, Carena was honored as a U.S. DOE Office of Science distinguished scientist fellow. In 2010, Carena won the Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. She was a staff member and a John Stuart Bell Fellow at CERN and was awarded a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship of the European Commission to conduct research at DESY.

About the series

The Vaden W. Miles Memorial Lecture Series brings distinguished physicists to campus each year to inspire students and engage the public in physics and astronomy. Established by Maxine Miles in memory of her husband, Professor Vaden W. Miles, the series honors his legacy as a gifted educator known for making physics accessible and exciting. In addition to delivering a public lecture, invited speakers meet with students in informal settings to discuss research, careers and emerging topics in science. The series continues to celebrate scientific curiosity, education and mentorship within the physics community.