Testing Cosmology with Large Scale Flows of Galaxies
Speaker: Professor Richard Watkins
Affiliation: Willamette University
Abstract
The standard model of cosmology assumes that the Universe is uniform on large scales. Thus it predicts that galaxy velocities averaged over large enough scales should approach zero.
This prediction can be tested by analyzing galaxy velocity catalogs that cover large volumes of space.
After giving an overview of the standard cosmological model, I will discuss some of the challenges of doing such an analysis along with methods we’ve developed that can address these challenges.
Finally, I will present the results of our analysis, which suggests that large scale motions are significantly larger than expected.
Dr. Watkins' research interests include Astrophysics, Cosmology, and Particle Physics. His current research is focused primarily on measuring flows of galaxies though the Universe on very large scales.
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Venue
Room: 222
