Royal Institution Public Talk - Do we have a standard model of cosmology?

The standard model of cosmology as we know it has been meticulously defined by cosmic microwave background radiation captured by the Planck satellite. But do scientists yet fully understand the component parts of this model at a fundamental level?

In this Discourse, world-renowned cosmologist George Efstathiou will discuss how the field of cosmology has transformed over recent decades, from the big bang controversy of sixty years ago to the quantitative data-driven science of the present day. The standard model of cosmology states that the structure in the Universe arose from quantum fluctuations that were stretched in scale during an early inflationary phase in the Universe’s history.

George will question how much we have actually learned, given that the three key ingredients of the model – inflation, cold dark matter and dark energy – are still misunderstood. Join George for an evening of unmissable wonder, as he speculates whether the Universe will hang on to its secrets for generations or whether a new paradigm shift may come within the next few years.