Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Speaker: Latham Boyle (University of Edinburgh)
Abstract: After reviewing some key observational hints and puzzles from the early universe, I will explain the reasons to think that the Big Bang is a kind of mirror. I will explain how this line of thought suggests new explanations for a number of observed properties of the universe, including: its homogeneity, isotropy and flatness; the arrow of time (i.e. the fact that entropy increases away from the bang); the nature of dark matter (which, in this picture, is a right-handed neutrino, radiated from the early universe like Hawking radiation from a black hole); and even the origin of the primordial perturbations. I will discuss some observational predictions that will be tested in the coming decade, and some key open questions. (Joint work with Neil Turok.)
Speaker: Latham Boyle (University of Edinburgh)
Abstract: After reviewing some key observational hints and puzzles from the early universe, I will explain the reasons to think that the Big Bang is a kind of mirror. I will explain how this line of thought suggests new explanations for a number of observed properties of the universe, including: its homogeneity, isotropy and flatness; the arrow of time (i.e. the fact that entropy increases away from the bang); the nature of dark matter (which, in this picture, is a right-handed neutrino, radiated from the early universe like Hawking radiation from a black hole); and even the origin of the primordial perturbations. I will discuss some observational predictions that will be tested in the coming decade, and some key open questions. (Joint work with Neil Turok.)
