The Frontiers of Fundamental Physics

Photography session with Prof Gross (first row, right)

Nobel Laureate in Physics Prof Dr David Jonathan Gross gave a talk on the fundamental of physics at Sungai Long Campus on 24 August 2017.

Present at the talk were the Malaysian Institute of Physics President Prof Dr Kurunathan Ratnavelu, UTAR International Advisory Council Academician Tan Sri Datuk Prof Emeritus Dr Augustine Ong Soon Hock, Academy of Sciences Malaysia Senior Fellow Academician Dr Chia Swee Ping,  UTAR Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research Director Prof Dr Faidz bin Abd Rahman, staff and students.

 “We are indeed grateful that Prof Dr David Gross is giving us time today to give this talk on Physics. We hope that this talk will not only enrich your mind but also provide a spark of interest for students to pursue further research and collaborations into this unique field of physics,” said Prof Faidz in his welcome speech.

Prof David Gross began his talk titled ‘The Frontiers of Fundamental Physics’ by explaining the theory that unifies all the forces of nature which in turn benefits scientists in the understanding of the origin and history of the universe. The talk covered on topics such as the structure of matter, the nature of forces that act on the particles, the mass and energy of the universe, the nature of Dark Matter, asymptotic freedom, dimensions in string theory, quantum gravity, black hole paradoxes, Moore’s Law and ways to discover new matter.

“It is astounding to look back 50 years ago, which was when I began to do my research and to realise how much we have changed with the new discovery and understanding of the basic building blocks of all matter and forces that act on them. The most important product of knowledge is ignorance whereby ignorance is the new questions that can be approached by the scientific method of observation, experiment and theory,” said Prof David Gross.

An interactive Q&A session and photography session was held before the talk ended.

Prof Dr David Gross is the Chancellor’s Chair professor of Theoretical Physics and former Director of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at UCSB. Prof Gross was previously Thomas Jones professor of mathematical physics at Princeton University. His discovery along with his student Frank Wilczek of asymptotic freedom led to the formulation of Quantum Chromodynamics, the theory of the strong nuclear force. This completed the Standard Model, which details the three basic forces of particle physics – the electromagnetic force, the weak force and the strong force. Prof Gross was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics for this discovery. He has also made seminal contributions to the theory of superstrings that brings gravity into the quantum framework. With collaborators, he originated the “Heterotic String Theory” the prime candidate for a unified theory of all the forces of nature. He continues to do research in this field at KITP, a global centre for physics.

Prof Gross receiving the token of appreciation from Prof Faidz

Prof Gross delivering his talk