ARTICLES
Kavli IPMU Public Science Lecture held with Dr. Randall
Date of activity: June 19, 2016
On June 19, 2016, Dr. Lisa Randall delivered a science lecture in the 21 Komcee Lecture Hall at the Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo. Over 200 people attended the full house event.
To begin, Shinji Mukohyama, a Kavli IPMU affiliate member and professor at the Research Institute for Fundamental Physics at Kyoto University, delivered a lecture titled “Beyond the Imagined 4th Dimension.” To describe Super String Theory—which is thought to be the ultimate theory—he introduced all of the forces of nature, including gravity, into the idea of “spacetime,” from which more dimensions can be derived.
However, as the justification for such a dimension cannot be observed, theories have emerged such as that there are other, smaller, and more compact dimensions within four-dimensional “spacetime”; that the fourth dimensional spacetime is a brane on which a filmy membrane clings; or that the fourth dimensional spacetime has to be in an unsteady state in order to exist—hence the advent of a theory that is not observable.
Next, Harvard University Professor of physics Lisa Randall delivered a lecture titled “Dark Matter and the Dinosaur Extinction.” The Director of IPMU Hitoshi Murayama, who also provided extended commentary on the points raised, interpreted Randall’s presentation into Japanese.
Randall raised a new theory—which was introduced in her recently published book for the general public—where a comet collides with the dark matter found in our Milky Way Galaxy, causing the object to impact the Earth, possibly resulting in the extinction of dinosaurs.
A motivation for the research was her desire to show that an abstract theory of elementary particles was deeply related to us all. She stressed the importance of, above all, stating a mystery, examining its truth, and thinking about the present in the context of the past, and finished by connecting two phenomena that are seemingly disconnected—dark matter and dinosaurs. Randall’s presentation filled the audience with excitement for the pursuit of scientific truth.
A question and answer session followed both the lectures. Murayama asked questions sourced from the audience—questions which had been written on sticky notes and gathered on a whiteboard—to which the presenters gave answers. Even after the event, the speakers made themselves available, and were surrounded by many inquirers.
From a survey of participants: “It was refreshing and interesting to hear about geology and dinosaurs at a lecture on cosmology and particle physics”; “Physics is a field with which I'm not very familiar, but I realized how it relates to us and got a sense of how science develops through the connections between scientists and the public”; “Confirming the existence of something unobservable by analyzing phenomena and their effects is a fascinating concept”; “It was really interesting and made me want to look up more about this topic myself.” We received numerous opinions. Participants appeared to be engaged in learning about this kind of interdisciplinary, multiple-field-spanning research.
From left: Shinji Mukokyama, Lisa Randall, and Hitoshi Murayama address questions from the audience during their Q & A session 
Lisa Randall speaks about dinosaurs and dark matter 
From left: Shinji Mukhoyama, Lisa Randall, and Hitoshi Murayama at the Kavli IPMU public science lecture held on June 19
