Keynote Address
Dr. Jens H. Gundlach, Professor
University of Washington
Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics
Precision Tests of Gravity
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Grand Ballroom A
Gravity defined our universe from the earliest moments onwards. Our present-day understanding of gravity is summarized in Einstein’s General Relativity, but this model does appear to be disconnected from the Standard Model, which describes particles, light and all the materials around us. Because of this disconnect, Dr. Gundlach and his group conduct highly precise measurements involving gravity, looking to see whether there may be more unifying concepts.
Dr. Gundlach will describe the astoundingly sensitive instruments that he and his team have developed and how they test the physics that governs our universe.
Jens H. Gundlach, Ph.D., is Professor of Physics at the University of Washington in Seattle. Born in Germany, he studied physics at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. He conducted his thesis research in nuclear physics at the University of Washington. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1990, he became interested in testing fundamental aspects of gravity. His group tested the equivalence principle, measured gravity at separations much smaller than a millimeter and developed a more precise method to measure Newton’s constant, big G. His group is also involved in developing instrumentation for gravitational wave detection.
Dr. Gundlach then added biophysics to his research repertoire. His bio-group provided the first functional demonstration of nanopore sequencing of DNA and developed an ultra-precise single-molecule tool that can resolve the activity of enzymes with unprecedented precision.
He now runs two very active research labs in these diametrically opposite fields of physics.
In 2021 he shared the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for his work on gravity.