UA Conference Explores Holography and Universe After the Big Bang

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — An international research workshop and “summer school” on the wide field of holography will run through Friday, Oct. 30, on The University of Alabama campus.

The workshop, titled “Holography Near and Far – From Equilibrium” will take place in room 1012 at UA’s North Engineering Research Center and is co-sponsored by UA’s department of physics and astronomy, the Office for Academic Affairs and the College of Arts and Sciences.

About two-dozen participants, speakers and lecturers hail from the United States, Canada and Europe and include UA graduate students and faculty. The workshop marks the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

The idea of holography stems from string theory, but joins many areas of physics, including black hole physics, quantum mechanics, cosmology, particle physics, nuclear physics, condensed matter physics and quantum information theory, said Dr. Matthias Kaminski, UA assistant professor of physics and astronomy, who is organizing the workshop.

The workshop will explore physics at the beginning of time — or, more precisely, the state of the universe right after the big bang.

“Holography refers to a general principle which is realized in many different ways,” he said. “Most people are familiar with optical holography, where a three-dimensional image is stored in a two-dimensional surface. Another realization of the same principle is found in black holes. These black holes have an event horizon, which is a surface. On that surface, all of the information about the black hole (its ‘image’) is stored.

“Black holes are solutions to Einstein’s equations, which are derived in his theory of General Relativity. We are now beginning to understand that holography is a much more general principle, relating quantum physics with gravitational physics. This latter point is what the workshop is about.”

The workshop will follow the format of scientific talks and associated problem solving sessions. The “Problem Sessions” can be used for working in groups on problems suggested by the speakers for individual work or for discussion.

“The main idea is to have everybody in one room and to provide an environment for interaction,” Kaminski said.

For information on covering the event, contact Kaminski at mski@ua.edu or 609/865 6978.

The department of physics and astronomgy is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships and Goldwater Scholarships.