A direct link to the location of this evenings lecture has been issued to all attendees who have registered. A reminder with the same details will issue 10 minutes before the start also.

If you encounter any issues please do not hesitate to contact communications@dias.ie

DIAS is delighted to welcome Nobel Laureate Professor Gerard ‘t Hooft to present 2020’s DIAS Day Lecture.

Black holes and how they might be sources of new physics.

Particle theorists using string theory have ideas about black holes but encountered various problems and contradictions. However, considering standard physics and some straightforward extrapolations leads to a clearer picture. Black holes seem to tell us not only important things about particle physics, but also aspects of space and time that are quite unlike what you read in text books and the popular press.

Prof. Gerard ’t Hooft won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics with the citation stating “for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics.” This work laid one of the corner stones of modern physics and put the Standard Model of Particle Physics on a firm theoretical footing. However, Prof. ‘t Hooft’s accomplishments have been far wider than this. His ideas on the nature of space and time are fundamental to many of the most active areas of current research in theoretical physics. He has dedicated much effort in recent years to understanding the quantum nature of black holes and the lessons they teach us about the quantum structure of spacetime.

Prof ‘t Hooft was born on July 5th 1946 in Den Helder, the Netherlands and completed his Ph.D. with Prof Martinus Veltman with whom he shared the 1999 Nobel Prize. He became a full Professor at Utrecht University in 1977. Aside from the Nobel prize he has received many international accolades over the years, such as the Wolf Prize, the Lorentz Medal and the Franklin Medal.

He is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, is a foreign member the French Académie des Sciences, the American National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a member of the Institute of Physics in Ireland and Britain.

Prof. ‘t Hooft has published the popular books
“Playing with Planets” (2008),
“In Search of the Ultimate Building Blocks” (1996) and
“Time in Powers of Ten” (2014).
and his website “How to become a GOOD Theoretical Physicist”
https://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~gadda001/goodtheorist/index.html
is a useful resource for young aspiring theoretical physicists.

This will be an online lecture. The link for the event will be issued on the day via an eventbrite email. Typically this occurs 2 hours before and again 10 minutes before the event is due to begin. Any queries please email communications@dias.ie