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Geometry and its implications for the universe will
be the subject of the Noyce Scholars' Convocation on Thursday, Oct.
31 at Grinnell College. The lecture, to be presented by Tevian Dray,
professor, department of mathematics, Oregon State University, and
Corinne A. Manogue, professor, department of physics, Oregon State
University, will be at 11 a.m. in the Herrick Chapel, Grinnell
College.
Noyce Visiting Professors, Dray and Manogue
will team up to present a discussion on "What Does Geometry Tell Us
About the Universe."
"First we thought the Earth was flat, but now we know that the
universe itself is curved," Dray said. "We do not yet know the shape
of the universe. We do not even know how many dimensions it has."
According to Manogue, geometry plays a basic role not only in
cosmology, the description of the large-scale structure of the
universe, but also in particle physics, the description of the
small-scale structure of the universe.
Dray received his Ph.D. in general relativity from the University of
California at Berkeley. He has worked with Nobel Laureate Gerard 't
Hooft and has had Fulbright fellowships to India and Australia.
Manogue received her Ph.D. in quantum gravity from the University of
Texas. She has had Fulbright fellowships to India and England, and
has recently won OSU's Distinguished Professor award for teaching
excellence.
Dray and Manogue have co-authored more than two dozen research
articles, including collaboration with Templeton Prize winner and
best-selling author Paul Davies. As directors of two major,
NSF-supported curriculum reform efforts, they are working to "bridge
the gap" between mathematics and physics. They are currently trying
to use the octonions to give a unified description of the fundamental
particles of nature.
The Robert N. Noyce '49 Visiting Professorship in the Physical
Sciences, Math, and Computer Science was created in 1998 thanks to a
generous gift from the Noyce family. Its purpose is to bring
outstanding scholars and leaders to campus from the fields of
physics, mathematics, computer science and chemistry to enhance and
enrich the knowledge of students and faculty in subject areas new or
not well represented by regular faculty.
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