Dr Sanjaye Ramgoolam, of Queen Mary University of London, delivered a fascinating and accessible introduction to one of the most cutting-edge areas of research in modern Physics: String Theory.
He began by demonstrating how different types of space can be described using one, two, three or even more spatial dimensions, and how time acts as an additional dimension in our universe. We were then introduced to the concept of String Theory, whereby all matter is made from minuscule vibrating strings, as a way to understand some of the most extreme objects in the universe, such as black holes, and even to give an insight into the first moments after the Big Bang.
Dr Ramgoolam then proceeded to tie the two topics together, explaining that even the simplest String Theories require the universe to have a minimum of nine spatial dimensions!
By the end of the talk, everyone in attendance had an enormously improved understanding of this fiendishly complex topic, as well as an insight into both the challenges and the elegance of modern day research in Physics.