Out of Darkness: The Quest for Lambda – Nemanja Kaloper

Date: Fri. February 29th, 2008, 4:15 pm-5:15 pm
Location: Rockefeller 301

Recent astronomical observations are forcing us to face the cosmological constant problem, which is perhaps the greatest challenge of modern fundamental physics. Solving it seems to require a paradigm shift in our thinking about nature. In this talk I will explain why the physics of the cosmological constant is so elusive, discuss the ideas oft seen in connection to it, and specifically review why changing the gravitational sector of the theory may help.