SCIENCE SEMINAR
The Initial Value Formulation of Modified Gravity
Nicolas Tremblay
Bishop’s University
Friday, May 2, 2008
12:30 pm - 1:20 pm
NICOLLS 1
In 1998 a fundamental discovery was made by analyzing Type Ia supernova light curves: the fact that we live in a universe not only in expansion, but also in acceleration. The most exciting and embarrassing part is that it forces us to accept the existence of a mysterious unknown component which comprises about three quarters of the universe's content, or to rethink our understanding of gravity in a very fundamental way, motivating research in alternative theories of gravity. In that regard, modified gravity seems an interesting candidate to explain our current universe but in order to be accepted as a viable theory it must have a well-posed initial value formulation.
The following topics will be explored : Cosmology and acceleration of the universe (motivations for modified gravity), introduction to general relativity, introduction to calculus of variations, general relativity/scalar tensor theory/modified gravity actions, mapping from scalar tensor theories to modified gravity, definition of the initial value formulation and motivations for solving it, examples of initial value formulations from physical theories including the initial value formulation of scalar tensor theories and the initial value formulation of modified gravity.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO BRING YOUR OWN LUNCH !
