Professor Varun Vaidya
University of South Dakota
Exploring the Universe with Effective Theories
Location: 1080 Physics Research Building
Faculty Host: Yuri Kovchegov
Abstract: Physical phenomenon in nature span a wide range of length and time scales ranging from light years to femto meters.
Modern science tells us that the simplest way to understand the universe at any given scale is through an effective description at that scale. This notion of Effective Theory is a powerful idea that transcends specific laws of nature and is the foundation of all modern scientific theories. I will introduce the basic ideas that lie at the root of this framework and show how they apply equally well from galactic scales to subatomic scales. I will illustrate this concept through my own research that focuses on two of most important questions in modern physics, the search for Dark Matter and the quest to unravel the structure of Baryonic or Nuclear Matter.
Bio: I received my PhD from Carnegie Mellon University and subsequently held post doctoral positions at Los Almos National Lab and Massachusetts Institute of Technology before joining the University of South Dakota as faculty. My research encompasses a wide range of topic in Nuclear, particle and astrophysics including Astrophysical probes of Dark Matter, gravitational wave physics and Structure of Hadrons, Nuclei and Quark Gluon Plasma.
