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AoT Köln: Online Event #15, 3 March 2022
March 3, 2022 @ 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM CET
It has been a while, but we are back with our first event of the year. This time we will hear all about dark matter from Prof. Dr. Pavel Kroupa, who is a professor at the Argelander Institut für Astrophysik in Bonn. He will be giving a brief summary of how physicists concluded that there must be some form of dark matter and dark energy, and where what this implies for the future of astrophysics. We will be live on YouTube at 19:00 CEST on Thursday, 3 March 2022. Join us live to participate in a lively discussion! 
Title: Dark Matter Kindergarten Stuff
Summary: The standard model of cosmology (SMoC) is based on the two fundamental assumptions that all matter was created in a hot Big Bang and that Einstein’s theory of general relativity is valid. Comparison with observational data then require the addition of auxiliary hypothesis, namely that most of the matter is in the form of exotic dark matter particles that need to dominate the masses of galaxies and that the expansion is accelerating due to dark energy. I will touch on some elementary implications of the dark matter hypothesis, namely the process of Chandrasekhar dynamical friction which allows a relatively straight forward test for the existence of dark matter. The results of this test are negative, and I will then visit the historical origin of the problem and map out a future path which astrophysics needs to take to make headway in understanding cosmological physics.
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