Abstract

The lecture links Einstein’s favourite instrument, the violin, with many of the concepts of modern physics that he did so much to establish. Relativity, E=mc2, the discovery of radioactivity, and Einstein’s role in understanding the atom and developing the atomic bomb lead into an outline of the ‘Standard Model’ of particle physics and cosmology.

This outstandingly successful theory has many problems which will be addressed by the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva. The lecture describes this machine, a technological marvel, shows how the experiments can reconstruct the conditions of the Big Bang and what they might find, and gives the latest news from Geneva. The lecture is punctuated by interludes of music that Einstein loved, played by one of the UK’s leading young violinists and this year’s Classical Brit Winner for Best Young Performer, Jack Liebeck.

Free for everyone.