Home > About HKUST > Media Relations > Press Releases > Nobel Laureate in Physics Prof George Smoot Discusses Discovery of Gravitational
Waves and its Way Forward at HKUST 25th Anniversary Distinguished Speakers Series
Nobel Laureate in Physics Prof George Smoot
Discusses Discovery of Gravitational Waves and its Way Forward
at HKUST 25th Anniversary Distinguished Speakers Series
27-10-2016
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) hosted the 25th Anniversary Distinguished Speakers Series today, featuring Prof George Smoot, Nobel Laureate in Physics 2006 and IAS Helmut & Anna Pao Sohmen Professor-at-Large of HKUST. The event was well received by students, faculty members and guests from HKUST.
In his talk titled “Gravitational Waves, Colliding Black Holes and the Advanced LIGO Detections”, Prof Smoot shared with the audience the fascinating discovery of a century-old prediction – gravitational waves – that was frst anticipated by renowned theoretical physicist Albert Einstein. The waves, ripples in the fabric of space-time, were frst detected by the advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in September last year as two black holes collided in a distant galaxy more than one billion light years away from Earth. Such detections, according to Prof Smoot, will lead scientists worldwide to new views of black holes, astronomy of things we only see in gravitational waves, and tests of General Theory of Relativity.
“This groundbreaking observation did not come easy but it confrms Albert Einstein’s last remaining unproven prediction of General Relativity and validates his predictions of space-time distortion in the context of large-scale cosmic events,” Prof Smoot said. “It also inaugurates the new era of gravitational wave astronomy, which promises many more observations of interesting and energetic objects as well as more precise tests of General Relativity and astrophysics.”
Prof Smoot was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006, jointly with Prof John Mather, for their work that led to the discovery of the black body form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation. This work helped further the Infationary Universe and the Big Bang theory of the universe.
Prof Smoot received his Bachelor degrees in Mathematics and Physics and his PhD in Physics from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been at the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since 1970. He is also Chair of the Endowment Fund “Physics of the Universe” of Paris Center for Cosmological Physics. He has joined HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) as IAS Helmut & Anna Pao Sohmen Professor-at-Large since January 2016.
Prof Smoot was elected as a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Physical Society. He has been honored by several universities worldwide with doctorates or professorships. He was also the recipient of the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientifc Achievement (1991), Lawrence Award from the US Department of Energy (1995), Einstein Medal from Albert Einstein Society (2003), Daniel Chalonge Medal from the International School of Astrophysics (2006) and Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2006).
Prof Smoot is an author of more than 500 science papers and is also co-author of the popularized scientifc book
Wrinkles in Time that elucidates cosmology and the discovery of NASA’s Cosmic Background Explorer. A great
teacher and a keen advocate of popular science, Prof Smoot received the Oersted Medal in 2009 for his notable contributions to the teaching of physics.
Speakers of the HKUST 25th Anniversary Distinguished Speakers Series include Nobel Prize laureates, corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and key fnancial policy shapers. Prof Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate in Physics in 1997 and former US Secretary of Energy, was the inaugural speaker of the series. For more details, please refer to http://25a.ust.hk/eng/dss.php. More talks are being lined up.
Prof George Smoot
Prof George Smoot (Left) and HKUST President Prof Tony F Chan in discussion
For media enquiries, please contact: Anita Lam Tel: 2358 6313 Email: anitalam@ust.hk Johnny Tam Tel: 2358 8556 Email: johnnytam@ust.hk
Prospective Students Current Students Faculty & Staff Alumni Donors Visitors Media Community
People Scholarly Publications HKUST Google 简体 | 繁體
ABOUT HKUST ACADEMICS ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH ADMISSIONS GLOBAL CONNECTIONS LIFE@HKUST
Explore the Site Map Library myPortal Giving Jobs@HKUST Contact Us
