Public Talk – “Dark Matter”

As early as the 1930s, the first indications of a component of the universe that still puzzles us today emerged: various astronomical observations could not be explained on the basis of visible matter alone. The idea of an invisible “dark matter” was born. In the following decades, further observations consolidated this picture: observations of the early universe, rotation curves of galaxies, gravitational lensing of galaxy clusters, the structure and history of the universe – they can be explained if there is five times more invisible dark matter next to the normal matter, which is only noticeable by its gravitational effect. What dark matter is, is unclear until today. A number of candidates have been and are being studied in various experiments. The latest of these, ALPS II, is searching for axions at DESY – with crucial contributions from Hannover – using intense laser light and superconducting magnets. These hypothetical particles are candidates for dark matter and could explain other phenomena outside the Standard Model.

Speaker: Benno Willke

Host: VDI-Bezirksverein Hannover