Wednesday 22 March 2017 

Speaker: Clare Burrage (University of Nottingham)


Title: "Detecting Dark Energy”

Abstract: From Cosmology to The Laboratory I will discuss why current theories of dark energy, which attempt to explain the acceleration of the expansion of the universe, lead to the introduction of new light scalars and associated fifth forces. I'll introduce non-linear screening mechanisms, which allows these scalars to have interesting cosmological effects whilst remaining compatible with terrestrial and solar system tests of gravity. I will then go on to discuss prospects for detecting these fields, and explain why our best hope of learning more about dark energy may be with table top scale experiments.