The Physics Garage: From String Theory to Pandemics

Description

Welcome to a curiosity-driven popular science lecture that will connect two distant subjects of contemporary science – string theory and the Covid-19 pandemic. The lecture is given by the well-renowned speaker Francesco Sannino, a theoretical physicist and professor at the University of Southern Denmark.

About the lecture
The Standard Model of particle physics is an extremely successful theory of nature. It describes three fundamental forces (the electromagnetic, weak, and strong interactions) in the universe. However successful, the Standard Model leaves some phenomena unexplained, for example the fundamental force of gravity and the nature of dark matter. Therefore, the Standard Model must be extended. In this lecture, we will use string theory, as a quantum gravity template, to deduce several conjectures and conditions on the type of extensions allowed for the Standard Model. What is even more exciting is that the same physics underlying the fundamental forces of the universe can be used to rationalize our understanding of infectious disease spreading and even help rationalizing virus mutations with impact on several realms of scientific enquiry.

About professor Francesco Sannino
Francesco Sannino is the founder and director of the Centre for Cosmology and Particle Physics Phenomenology (CP3-Origins) as well as one of the founders and chair in theoretical physics of Danish Institute for Advanced Study (DIAS) at the University of Southern Denmark. He is also chair of theoretical physics at the Scuola Superiore Meridionale and Professor in Theoretical Physics at the Department of Physics at Federico II University. He is a well-renowned speaker and has been recognised with several prestigious awards and research grants. Francesco Sannino is also a member of the Royal Danish Academy and the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters.

Period	2021 Oct 19
Event type	Seminar
Location	Lund, SwedenShow on map
Degree of Recognition	Local