A Londra un dialogo tra astrofisici Premi Balzan

Il 16 giugno 2026 alle 12:00 all’Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Londra (39 Belgrave Square) Paolo de Bernardis, Premio Balzan 2006 per l’astronomia e astrofisica osservative, e Joseph Silk, Premio Balzan 2011 per l’universo primordiale, si incontreranno per un dialogo sul tema “The Future of Cosmology. From the First Light in the Universe to the Dark Ages”.

L’evento, introdotto da Francesco Bongarrà, direttore dell’ICI Londra, Nicolò Biscottini, primo segretario dell’Ambasciata italiana, e da Frances Ashcroft del Comitato Generale Premi Balzan, è organizzato dalla Fondazione Internazionale Balzan e dall’Istituto italiano di Cultura di Londra.

ABSTRACT:

Modern cosmology is no longer confined to Earth. To understand the birth and evolution of our universe, we are venturing to the most isolated pockets of our solar system. This quest is defined by two parallel frontiers: the search for the “First Light” and the exploration of the “Dark Ages.”

Experimentalists are now developing cutting edge, remote ground-based telescopes and a new satellite to launch to the ambitious L2 Lagrange point. They will scan the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) for the ultimate prize: B-mode polarization. These faint swirls in the oldest light are the potential fingerprints of primordial gravitational waves, offering a direct window into the first trillionth of a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang.

At the same time, we are looking toward the Far Side of the Moon to solve the mystery of the Dark Ages ― the era before the first stars. By building radio telescopes in the Moon’s radio-silent shadow, we aim to detect ultra-long radio waves from ancient hydrogen clouds. Together, these measurements represent a pincer maneuver on the unknown: one refining our view of the infant universe’s light, the other illuminating the structures that grew from the darkness.

Join our speakers as they discuss the extreme engineering and theoretical precision required to extract these cosmic truths from an overwhelming background of local noise.