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Dear friend of Arkadia,

You are invited to Discovering the “almost perfect” Universe by Rose Lerner (theoretical cosmologist) and Anna-Stiina Suur-Uski (Planck scientist) on Saturday 13.4 at 4pm at Arkadia.

Just a few weeks ago, most precise image of the early Universe taken to date was revealed by the Planck satellite (did you see the international news coverage?). They showed the “cosmic microwave background radiation” that hasn’t interacted with anything for the last 13.8 billion years. In this radiation, we can see tiny fluctuations, which are the seeds for the formation of galaxies! This gives a window to how the Universe formed and allows scientists to test theories about the origin of our Universe. The new data shows that the Universe is “almost perfect” (much to the dismay of many theoretical physicists, who were hoping for some new observation that needed an explanation).

To get this data, the Planck team had to create the coldest spot in the Universe, at just 0.1 degree above absolute zero. This was an incredible achievement! Part of the Planck team is based in Helsinki, and Planck Scientist Anna-Stiina Suur-Uski will give a short talk
introducing the Planck satellite, and will then show and explain Planck’s new results. Before that, theoretical physicist Rose Lerner will explain how we can actually see radiation that is 13.8 billion years old, what the cosmic microwave background
really is, how we believe the Universe formed, and what theories the theoretical physicists would like to test!

This is an exciting opportunity to learn about a new scientific result within weeks of the scientific community
learning about it. We hope you will have plenty of questions!

All are welcome, and you don’t need a background in science to follow the talks. (School children interested in science may also enjoy this event.)

Warm regards,

Ian

www.arkadiabookshop.fi

-Entrance is free but a donation of €3 (or more!) to fund the event is suggested and would be most welcome.

Rose Lerner is a theoretical cosmologist at the University of Helsinki, and a frequent speaker on cosmology, dark matter and particle physics at Arkadia.

Anna-Stiina Suur-Uski is a graduate student at the University of Helsinki, and a member of the international Planck collaboration.