Truth and Beauty in Cosmology: Does the Universe
Have an Aesthetic?
Chris Impey
The University of Arizona
Astronomy is an empirical science, but the study
of the universe is tethered in strong assumptions that nature is fundamentally
simple and comprehensible. Cosmologists appear to be closing in on a successful
model of the formation and evolution of the universe, but central features
like dark matter and vacuum energy are still mysterious. This talk will
raise the issue of whether or not the universe has, or should have, an
aesthetic.