Smith Lecture, Monday, April 25, 2005

m = E/c²: The origin of mass

Frank Wilczek

Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2004 Nobel Laureate in Physics

Einstein's famous equation, E=mc², asserts that energy and mass are different aspects of the same reality. In the mind of the general public, it is usually associated with the idea that small amounts of mass can be converted into large amounts of energy, as in nuclear reactors and bombs. For fundamental physics, however, the more important idea is just the opposite. We want to explain how mass itself arises, by explaining it in terms of more basic concepts.

8:00 p.m., 131 Hitchcock Hall Auditorium