Exploring the Big Bang, Black Holes and the Extremes of the Universe

The birth of the universe and two of the most spectacular gravitational extremes, the Big Bang and black holes, are the focus of this fascinating discussion between two of USC Dornsife's leading scholars.

They also answered viewer questions including: Is it possible to travel through time via black holes? Is there a multiverse? What is dark matter? What is string theory? What are your expectations regarding the new Webb telescope and how it will advance our understanding of the universe?

Participants:

Amber D. Miller, USC Dornsife Dean – Miller is a cosmologist who is working with a team to build and deploy a new telescope in the Atacama Desert in Chile to study the universe when it was less than a second old. Her PhD dissertation was the first to provide evidence that the geometry of the universe was flat.

Nicholas Warner, Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Mathematics. Warner is using string theory to attempt to resolve the paradoxical behavior of black holes that requires us to re-think our understanding of gravity and perhaps the structure of space-time.

Moderator: Moh El-Naggar, Dean's Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Professor of Physics and Chemistry. El-Naggar explores how microbes exchange electrical charges with the goal of developing new, sustainable energy sources.

Watch the discussion on YouTube.

Read about the Big Bang, black holes, and much more in the Cosmos Issue of the USC Dornsife magazine.

Learn more about the Dornsife Dialogues and sign up for the next live event here.