This month Professor Chris Allton from the Department of Physics at Swansea will be talking to us about the the forces that operate in Neutron Stars.
Chris is an Australian by birth, education (and outlook!). He is a professor of theoretical particle physics in Swansea University where his research involves using some of the fastest computers in the world to simulate the properties of quarks at temperatures 100,000 times that of the core of the sun.
He is also very interested in the public engagement of science and is the Director of Oriel Science, Swansea University’s outreach project.
All the matter we know about in the universe is comprised of just 19 particles. Quarks are the most massive and they combine together to form neutrons and protons to make atomic nuclei. Quarks are bound together by the Strong Force – and this Force is incredibly strong, each quark is held to its neighbour by a force equivalent to the weight of three elephants! At high temperatures and pressures, around a trillion degrees, quarks can become free.
The talk explores how this new phase of matter and neutron stars are related.
Everyone is, as always, very welcome.
Usual time and place, 7:30pm at the Kings Head, Abergavenny, next to the Town Hall.