Francesco Sannino - Living on the Edge: Black Holes as Quantum Gravity Lampposts
DIAS lecture by Francesco Sannino, DIAS Chair of Physics, Director of the Quantum Theory Center, Founder of the Centre for Cosmology and Particle Physics Phenomenology (CP³-Origins) at SDU . Abstract We live in an era marked by the LIGO Laboratory discovery of gravitational waves, emitted when two black holes coalesce, and the Event Horizon Telescope imaging of black holes. While these amazing discoveries crystallise Einstein’s theory of general relativity they also beg for a fresh look at the problem of unifying gravity and quantum field theory. These two theories constitute our current understanding of Nature but are notoriously at odds with each other. I will first review basic facts about black holes and then argue in favour of a recent approach that aims at shortcutting the problem of the absence of a theory of quantum gravity. This will be achieved by introducing a quantum gravity model independent approach focussed on effective metric descriptions of quantum black holes. We believe that our findings will herald novel ways to explore quantum corrections to black hole dynamics with impact for our understanding of the fabric of space-time. About Francesco Sannino Francesco Sannino is the Director of the Quantum Theory Center, the Founder of the Centre for Cosmology and Particle Physics Phenomenology (CP³-Origins) at SDU. He is also one of the Founders of the Danish IAS and Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Federico II University in Italy. Professor Francesco Sannino is widely recognized for having pioneered the analytical and numerical investigations of the conformal structure of gauge theories of fundamental interactions, for the construction of minimal composite extensions of the standard model, and for the recent discovery of four-dimensional asymptotically safe theories. Recently he has also applied and developed mathematical tools stemming from theoretical physics to describe the evolution of infectious diseases at human and viral level. His work crosses several realms of particle physics and cosmology from bright and dark extensions of the standard model and inflationary cosmology to the mathematical underpinning of theories of fundamental interactions. The lecture takes place in the DIAS seminar room and is open to all.
Cathie Jo Martin - What we talk about when we talk about poverty
Abstract Why did historical anti-poverty programs in Britain, Denmark and France differed so dramatically in their goals, beneficiaries and agents for solving poverty? Different cultural views of poverty contributed to how policymakers envisioned anti-poverty reforms. Danish elites articulated social investments in peasants as necessary to economic growth, political stability and societal strength. Britain elites viewed the lower classes as a challenge to these goals. French perceived the poor as an opportunity for Christian charity. Fiction writers are overlooked political actors in welfare reforms of the long nineteenth century. At the level of individual agency, writers are important activists in struggles over social policy reforms. They use their narratives to ascribe meaning to social problems; they help create ideologies for their social movements; they mobilize support among broader publics with their heart-wrenching novels; and they help to put neglected issues on the popular agenda. Writers may well be even more important at the structure level by collectively creating a set of enduring cultural tropes that extend across issue areas and time. I refer to these enduring tropes as a country’s “cultural constraint,” or the symbols and narratives that appear in the national-level aggregation of literature. Fiction writers inherit symbols and narratives from their literary ancestors, rework these to address the political problems of their times, and pass these on to future generations. In this way, narratives become a cultural anchoring for deliberations over social issues. To assess cross-national variations in cultural depictions of poverty, my coauthors and I use historical case studies and quantitative textual analyses of 562 British, 521 Danish and 498 French fictional works from 1700 to 1920. While fiction writers (and essayists) today are less influential in shaping perceptions of social problems than they were in the long nineteenth century (before the rise of non-print media), cultural frames continue to anchor policy deliberations over poverty and other social issues. About Cathie Jo Martin Cathie Jo Martin is professor of Political Science at Boston University and associated researcher at the Danish Center for Welfare Studies, University of Southern Denmark. Her book, Education for All? (Cambridge University Press 2023), investigates how British and Danish authors contribute to the deep cultural roots of education reform. Her previous book with Duane Swank, The Political Construction of Business Interests (Cambridge 2012) received the APSA Politics and History book award. In 2013-2014, she co-chaired with Jane Mansbridge an APSA presidential task force on political negotiation, which produced Negotiating Agreement in Politics (Brookings 2015). Martin is also author of Stuck in Neutral: Business and the Politics of Human Capital Investment Policy (Princeton 2000), Shifting the Burden: the Struggle over Growth and Corporate Taxation (Chicago 1991), and articles in the American Political Science Review, World Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, European Journal of Sociology and Socio-Economic Review among others. Martin has received fellowships and grants from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Russell Sage Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, German Marshall Fund, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Danish Social Science Research Council, Boston University Hariri Institute for Computing, BU Humanities Foundation and National Science Foundation. She received her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987 and an honorary doctorate from the University of Southern Denmark in October 2019.
Mitchell A. Lazar - The Emperor's New Data
Abstract There is a crisis of confidence in science and scientists, which has been accentuated by an assault on truth and facts that has affected nearly every aspect of our civilized society. I will discuss the problem from both general and personal perspectives, and address the need for scientists to always be skeptical, especially about claims that are too good to be true. About Mitchell A. Lazar Mitchell A. Lazar, MD, PhD is the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor of Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He was received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from M.I.T. and his MD and PhD from Stanford University, then trained in internal medicine and endocrinology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Lazar joined the University of Pennsylvania faculty in 1989 and rose through the ranks to Professor, serving as Chief of the Penn Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism from 1996-2020. Since 2005 he has been Founding Director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. Dr. Lazar's groundbreaking research has focused on nuclear receptors and the transcriptional regulation of circadian rhythms and metabolism, and he has has made fundamental contributions to the fields of endocrinology, diabetes, and chronobiology. Mitch has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and its Council, and to the Association of American Physicians and its council, which he served as President in 2020-2021. He is also an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Science, and has received numerous awards from international societies and universities, including the Transatlantic Medal from the UK Endocrine Society, the Luft Medal from the Karolinska Institute, and the Harrison Medal from the Endocrine Society of Australia. Dr. Lazar was also the recipient of the 2023 Fred Conrad Koch Lifetime Achievement Medal Award of the Endocrine Society. He was recently selected to receive the 2025 George M. Kober Medal from the Association of American Physicians, an honorific society of America’s leading physician-scientists founded in 1885 to exemplify the pinnacle of pioneering and enduring, impactful contributions to improve health.
DIAS Lecture by Jørgen Ellegaard
More information to follow soon...
David Woolner - Franklin Roosevelt, Niels Bohr, and the Atomic Bomb – some unanswered questions about a dying president in his last 100 days
On April 12, 1945, a stunned world learned that Franklin D. Roosevelt, the leader who had brought the United States through the two great crises of the twentieth century, was dead. Responding to this shocking development, the Danish physicist, Niels Bohr, expressed the view that it seemed impossible to believe that “the great man, upon whom more than anyone else, the hopes of humanity were centered” was gone. What Bohr and the rest of the public did not realize, of course, was that by the spring of 1945 Franklin Roosevelt was a dying man. What’s more, his sudden disappearance from the world stage at this critical moment meant that leader who had orchestrated the alliance that would go on to defeat the forces of fascism and set the stage for the successful creation of the United Nations would not be there to witness these historic developments. Nor would he be present when his government faced one of the most daunting decisions made in human history—the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Roosevelt’s absence at the dawn of the nuclear age has raised several questions about what might have happened had he lived long enough to witness the successful development of the atomic bomb. Would Roosevelt—whose knowledge of and involvement in the making of the atomic bomb was far more extensive than President Truman’s—have followed the same course of action? Or might FDR have pursued an alternative strategy for ending the war, through negotiation or a demonstration of the atomic bomb’s awesome power. Equally significant, might he have ultimately taken Bohr’s advice and shared the atomic secret with the Russians in such a way as to gain their confidence and perhaps avoid the onset of the nuclear arms race that stood at the heart of the Cold War? As discussed in this presentation, a close examination of FDR’s last 100 days in office offers some interesting clues as to what Roosevelt might have done had he lived long enough to bring the most destructive war in history to an end. About David B. Woolner: David B. Woolner is Professor of History and Kovler Foundation Fellow of Roosevelt Studies at Marist College; Senior Fellow and Resident Historian of the Roosevelt Institute; and Senior Fellow of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College. He is the author of The Last 100 Days: FDR at War and at Peace (Basic Books, 2017), is editor/co-editor of five books, and served as historical advisor to the Ken Burns films The Roosevelts: An Intimate History and The US and the Holocaust and for numerous special exhibitions at the FDR Presidential Library and Museum. Dr. Woolner is the recipient of the Fulbright Denmark Distinguished Scholar Award in American Studies at the University of Southern Denmark (2023-2024) and was recently named a Fulbright Specialist for the years 2021-2025 by the US Department of State’s Bureau for Educational and Cultural Affairs. From 2000-2010, Dr. Woolner served as the Roosevelt Institute’s Executive Director, overseeing a significant expansion of the organization’s budget, programmatic dimension and staff. He earned his Ph. D. and M.A. in history from McGill University and a B.A. summa cum laude in English Literature and History from the University of Minnesota. The lecture takes place in the DIAS Auditorium at Fioniavej 34. Everybody is welcome and no registration is needed.
Twins and Other Extraordinary Kinships: The Science and the Fascination
Nancy L. Segal, professor of Phycology and Director of the Twin Studies Center, at California State University, Fullerton Twins and Other Extraordinary Kinships: The Science and the Fascination Twins have a universal fascination for both scientific professionals and members of the general public. Why this is the case has been a matter of some debate, but several explanations will be suggested. Next, an overview of twin types (identical and fraternal) and the fascinating variations displayed by each type are described and illustrated (e.g., twins reared apart, biracial twins, twins with different fathers) with compelling data and case studies. Some curious, twin-like twosomes are also included, given that they are scientifically informative, as well as fascinating (virtual twins, unrelated look-alikes, switched at birth pairs). Twin research continues to grow and to flourish as more twins are being born and researchers representing diverse disciplines, such as politics, religious studies, and economics, are embracing a twin-based approach to better understand their observations. About : Dr. Nancy L. Segal is a Psychology Professor and Director of the Twin Studies Center, at California State University, Fullerton. She specializes in twin research and teaches courses in developmental psychology. She had authored nine books on twins, most recently Deliberately Divided: Inside the Controversial Study of Twins and Triplets Adopted Apart (Segal, 2021); and Gay Fathers, Twin Sons: The Citizenship Case That Captured the World (Segal, 2023).. The lecture takes place on 22nd of May from 11.15-12.15 in the DIAS Seminarroom, Fioniavej 34. Everybody is welcome and no registration is needed.
Powerful Political Metaphors: How Are They Created?
DIAS Discussion: Powerful Political Metaphors: How Are They Created? Introduction: Jeppe Nevers Lecture: Timo Pankakoski Commentator: Aglae Pizzone The event is open for all and takes place in the DIAS seminar room
Women in transition - minisymposium
Minisymposium with Kaare Christensen Focus on the menopause with perspectives from medicine, psychology, society, and literature. More information to come.