Probing the Dark Universe

Josh Frieman

University of Chicago / FermiLab

Over the last two decades, cosmologists have made a remarkable discovery about our Universe: only 4% is made of ordinary matter—atoms, molecules, etc. The other 96% is dark, in forms unlike anything with which we are familiar. About 25% is dark matter, which holds galaxies and larger‐scale structures together, and may be a new elementary particle. And 70% is thought to be dark energy, which is driving the expansion of the Universe to speed up. This talk will introduce the Dark Universe, overview what we have learned about it, and describe new experiments and observatories that aim to illuminate these enigmas.