Speaker Night – Mapping the dark side of the Universe

Jessie’s talk will fill us in on the latest exploration into Dark Matter and the work of the Dark Energy Survey.

Synopsis: Decades of observations and analyses have led to the realization that ninety-five percent of the mass and energy in the Universe is made up of mysterious components known as dark matter and dark energy. The underlying physics behind these dark components is unknown, but we can constrain their properties by observing how they affect visible matter, searching for clues for how to develop more fundamental descriptions of this “dark side” of the Universe. This talk will give an overview of how we can use measurements from galaxy surveys, which map the distribution of matter in the Universe, to learn about dark energy, dark matter, and gravity and will describe the current state-of-the-art results from an ongoing experiment called the Dark Energy Survey.

Bio: Jessie Muir is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. Originally from Romeo, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, Jessie completed her undergraduate studies at Michigan State University, masters work at the University of Cambridge as a Marshall Scholar, and her PhD at the University of Michigan. She has previously done postdoctoral research as a Porat Fellow at Stanford University. Jessie works on research at the intersection of cosmology theory and data analysis with the goal of using measurements of the large-scale properties of the Universe to learn about fundamental physics. As part of the Dark Energy Survey scientific collaboration, Jessie recently co-led the experiment’s analysis of galaxy clustering and weak gravitational lensing to test for physics beyond the standard cosmological model, and has contributed to the development of strategies for protecting cosmology analyses from unconscious experimenter bias.

Join us on online using ZOOM: CLICK TO JOIN

Campus Map (click to download)

Park in lot P4 or P8.  Enter Building C10 (Recreation, Athletics & Wellness Centre). Walk past the stairs to the elevator / staircase at the end of the hall.  Walk up one floor or take the elevator. You should see a bookstore.  Walk through the doors marked Print shop. At the Print Shop turn right and look for room 1142 on your right.