Public lecture on "Galactic Archaeology"

Oldenburg. Spacetime geometries, black holes and wormholes or time measurement on satellites: The Research Training Group "Models of Gravity" at the Universities of Oldenburg and Bremen is focussing on questions relating to the theory of relativity. The German Research Foundation (DFG) approved the programme last year. It will be officially launched on 28 March with a three-day workshop and a public lecture at the Haus der Wissenschaft in Bremen. In addition to the lead universities of Oldenburg and Bremen, Jacobs University Bremen and the universities of Hanover, Bielefeld and Copenhagen are also involved in the Research Training Group.

Eleven doctoral students and two postdocs work in the research training group. Their research is important, for example, for high-resolution surveying and mapping of the Earth's surface or the operation of satellite-based navigation systems such as the GPS (Global Positioning System) as well as for the future Galileo system, whose satellites are being built in Bremen.

The new research training group is headed by Oldenburg physicist Prof Dr Jutta Kunz and Prof Dr Claus Lämmerzahl from the University of Bremen. In addition to numerous internationally renowned experts in the field of gravitational research, they also recruited Prof. Dr Eva Grebel (Heidelberg) and Prof. Dr Charles W. Misner (Maryland) for the inaugural event.

Grebel is Germany's only female professor for the subject of astronomy. The expert from the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut at Heidelberg University will be giving a public lecture at Bremen's Haus der Wissenschaft on Wednesday, 28 March at 7.30 pm. As part of the "Olbers lectures" series, the scientist will present a lecture on the topic of "Galactic Archaeology". This still young field of research deals with the detailed evolutionary history of galaxies such as the Milky Way, which is reconstructed using fossilised remains of celestial bodies, among other things. Last year, a separate Collaborative Research Centre was dedicated to researching the Milky Way, of which Grebel is the spokesperson.

Misner is one of the pioneers of modern gravitational research and has contributed significantly to the understanding of black holes. As a professor at the University of Maryland (USA), he and his colleagues wrote the textbook "Gravitation" in 1973, which is still considered a standard work today. His research also took him to Germany, where he worked at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics for a total of three years. Although now retired, he is still active at the University of Maryland. He will give the keynote speech at the opening event.

[Press release from 23/03/2012]