The international particle physics community has launched a new outreach program to raise awareness about one of the big open questions in physics: dark matter. Dark Matter Day will be celebrated on and around October 31 in cities all around the world. In Madison, the celebration starts early, on October 18, with a talk by Professor Carsten Rott, visiting from Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, about the search for dark matter.
Dark matter makes up about 85 percent of the mass of the universe yet has never been detected. The discovery of dark matter properties could clarify many unanswered questions about our universe. The focus of Professor Rott’s talk will be on how scientists are using the IceCube neutrino telescope to solve this mystery. The talk will cover data already analyzed and the discussion of potential results that might be revealed about dark matter in the future.
Professor Rott will give his talk on Wednesday, October 18th, from 7:00 to 8:15pm at the Biotech Center, located at 425 Henry Mall, Room 1111. This activity is in collaboration with the series Wednesday Nite @ the Lab, which brings scientists and citizens together 50 times a year to talk about research at UW–Madison.
WIPAC and the international IceCube Collaboration are also working on some special activities for October 31, but they are keeping us in the dark until then. Stay tuned!
WIPAC is not the only team organizing activities for this big scientific celebration. Professor Kim Palladino from UW’s Department of Physics will be the invited scientist in a new edition of Science on Tap Madison, on November 1 at 7:00 pm at the Nomad World Pub on East Wilson Street.