Professor Wilczek, celebrated for the discovery of asymptotic freedom, played a central role in establishing Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), the modern theory of the strong interaction. In this talk, he will reflect on five decades of pioneering research – from unified field theories and the Higgs particle to the ongoing search for axions, possible constituents of dark matter.
Overview
- Date:Starts 5 September 2025, 10:15Ends 5 September 2025, 11:00
- Location:Rydbergsalen, Department of Physics, Lund University, Sölvegatan 14,
- Language:English
Title: My Life with Quantum Chromodynamics
Abstract
'It’s been a 50-year love affair, still going strong. Early highlights include discovering asymptotic freedom, formulating modern QCD, and proposing decisive tests of it. This led to quantitative treatment of unified field theories, expanding the scope of cosmology, showing how to discover Higgs particles, and predicting the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter at high temperature and density, including new phases and critical points.
It also launched the continuing saga of axions: wayward children of QCD that not improbably make the ‘dark matter’ of the universe. I’ll describe my role and experiences in all those advances, along with relevant context. At the end, I’ll introduce two things I’m working on now: axion searches that use new technologies to achieve the needed sensitivity, and the circle of ideas around flux channeling.'