Big Apple Colloquium by Wendy Freedman, Chicago
Note: Registration with NYU Physics is required to attend this special NYC event. Space is limited so early registration is advisable.
The question of whether there is new physics beyond our current standard model, Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) remains an unresolved issue in cosmology. Recent measurements of the Hubble constant (H_o) using Cepheids and Type Ia supernovae (SNe) appear to differ significantly, with claims of up to 6-sigma, from values inferred from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) fluctuations. I will give a status report on our Chicago Carnegie Hubble Program (CCHP) measuring H_o and present new results from James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Over a period of decades, we have developed three independent methods for measuring the distances to nearby galaxies that provide a calibration for SNe: Cepheid variables, Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB) stars and J-Region Asymptotic Giant Branch (JAGB) stars. The Near-Infrared Camera on JWST has four times the resolution and ten times the sensitivity of HST in the near infrared, and has been critical in improving our ability to measure accurate distances to galaxies, and H_o.
Reception to follow
Host: NYU