Prof. Maulik Parikh is a theoretical physicist in the Department of Physics at Arizona State University. Parikh’s research spans numerous aspects of gravitation, including the foundations of general relativity, the physics of black holes, and gravitational aspects of quantum theories of gravity, particularly string theory. His paper on black hole thermodynamics with Frank Wilczek, the 2004 Physics Nobel Laureate, has been highly acclaimed, and he has received the first award from the Gravity Research Foundation, perhaps the top prize exclusively for gravitational research. Parikh was previously faculty at IUCAA in India, and held postdoctoral positions at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and at Columbia University. Earlier, he obtained his PhD from Princeton University, where he once inhabited Albert Einstein’s house. |
Abstract: Exactly one hundred years ago, in November of 1915, Albert Einstein discovered the profound meaning of gravity. Overthrowing Newton’s old idea of gravity as a mere force, Einstein realized that gravity was in fact nothing less than the curvature of the fabric of space-time. A century later, though the mysteries of black holes, theoretical physics is still uncovering the deepest origins of space and time. In this talk aimed at the general public, I will explain what black holes are, what happens if you fall inside one, and what they have taught us about the ultimate nature of space and time.