A&M Symposium Hopes to Unveil a Cosmic World

by JOSH BAUGH

COLLEGE STATION — The 2006 Mitchell Symposium on Astronomy, Cosmology and Fundamental Physics kicks off Monday at Texas A&M University, bringing together some of the subjects’ foremost experts from across the world.

“This is a quality event,” said Roland Allen, a theoretical physicist at A&M. “We’ll have people here that are at the top of the scientific community.”

The symposium, which begins Monday and runs through Saturday, also includes discussions geared toward the general public each day. Also, on Saturday, the symposium will hold a Physics Festival in the Rudder Exhibit Hall.

While the majority of the symposium is geared toward technical discussions for the scientists, the public events each day are appropriate for children and adults alike, said Allen, the chairman of the conference committee.

But the symposium, which will bring together members of the National Academy of Sciences and Nobel Prize winners, is more than a time to discuss astronomy, cosmology and physics. It’s also a time to showcase A&M’s growing science departments, Allen said. Scientists from some of the most prominent universities in the world will be exposed this week to A&M.

“It is bringing people from around the world here, giving national and international visibility to Texas A&M,” Allen said. “The idea is they come here, they see what’s going on here, and we see what’s going on in the rest of the world. It’s a line of communication between us and the rest of the world.”

The event will be a bit of a showcase for A&M, which has unveiled plans to build two high-profile physics buildings on University Drive. More than 60 percent of the $57 million project is being funded by a donation from George and Cynthia Mitchell, who also underwrite the symposium.

The Mitchells have also funded fellowships and scholarships for the sciences at A&M and have contributed to the Giant Magellan Telescope project, which will be discussed at the conference.

“Everything that George Mitchell has done here has been done to strengthen science and astronomy here,” Allen said.

Mitchell, a member of A&M’s Class of 1940 whose background is in geology and petroleum engineering, said he wanted to help gain exposure for the university’s physics department.

“We want to get the message out about what’s going on at A&M,” he said.

The plan appears to be working.

A&M recently hired Nick Suntzeff, a world-renowned astronomer, to lead its astronomy program. Suntzeff led one of the two teams that discovered “dark energy” that permeates the universe, Allen said.

Dark energy is now thought to make up about 74 percent of the universe’s gravitational mass, Allen said.

“This may be one of the most exciting eras ever in the history of science,” he said, referring to the quantity and quality of discoveries being made.

A&M is also partnering with other universities to help build the Giant Magellan Telescope, which should produce images 10 times sharper than those of the Hubble Space Telescope.

“We’re showcasing that we have a lot of presence here,” Allen said of the symposium. “We’re establishing A&M in the rest of the world in astronomy and cosmology.”

Schedule of talks open to the public:

– Monday: 7:30 p.m., Rudder Theater; University of Chicago’s Michael Turner presents “Before and After the Big Bang: What We Know and are Trying to Find Out About How the Universe Began”

– Tuesday: 7:30 p.m. Rudder Theater; Harvard University’s Lisa Randall presents “Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions”

– Wednesday: 5:30 p.m., Rudder Tower, Room 301; Cambridge University’s George Efstathiou presents “The Fate of the Universe”

– Thursday: 7:30 p.m., Rudder Tower, Room 301; University of California at Santa Cruz’s Gregory Laughlin presents “Extrasolar Planets”

– Friday: 7:30 p.m., Rudder Tower, Room 301; University of Hawaii’s Karen Meech presents “Deep Impact: Secrets of the Comet”

– Saturday: 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Rudder Exhibit Hall; Physics Festival with exhibits and demonstrations; 3 p.m., Rudder Theater; Case Western Reserve University’s Lawrence Krauss presents “The Physics of Star Trek”