Dr. Alan Kogut of NASA Astrophysics Science Division Goddard Space Flight Center

How did the universe begin? Is the gravitational physics that governs the shape and evolution of the cosmos connected in a fundamental way to the sub-atomic physics of particle colliders? Light from the Big Bang still permeates the universe and carries within it faint clues to the physics at the start of space and time. I will describe how current and planned measurements of the cosmic microwave background will observe the Big Bang to provide new insight into a "Theory of Everything" uniting the physics of the very large with the physics of the very small. “The team led by Alan Kogut of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., has announced the discovery of cosmic radio noise that booms six times louder than expected. Many objects in the universe emit radio waves. In 1931, American Bell Labs physicist, Karl Jansky first detected radio static from our own Milky Way galaxy. Similar emission from other galaxies creates a background hiss of radio noise.” Are there more galaxies to be found? “ARCADE's mission was to search the sky for heat from the first generation of stars. Instead, it found a cosmic puzzle. Cosmic Radio Mystery!”

Biography: Dr. Alan Kogut has spent the last twenty years studying the early universe through measurements of the cosmic microwave background. He has built instruments to observe from mountain tops, the South Pole, high-altitude balloons, and deep space. He is currently leading a team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to search for the signature of quantum gravity waves originating from the Big Bang.

Dr. Alan Kogut of NASA Astrophysics Science Division Goddard Space Flight Center

Biography: