Title: Where new physics will (possibly) emerge in Cosmology?

Speaker: 马寅哲

Institute: 南非斯坦陵布什大学

Host: 于浩然

Time: 2025.12.25 周四 16:00

Location: 物理楼 552

Abstract: 

The last two decades saw the fast development of precision cosmology with the advances of modern telescopes. I will give a brief overview of the modern cosmology and highlight its phenomenal successes and distinctive challenges. I will explain why and how the measurements of cosmic microwave background radiation, the relics of the primordial elements, and the galaxy distribution on large scales can improve our understanding of the fundamental building blocks of the nature. Then I will discuss its distinctive challenges and the observational frontiers for high-energy physics, highlighting where the new physics may possibly emerge.

Bio: 

Professor Yin-Zhe Ma obtained his Bachelor's degree in Physics from Nanjing University, a master's degree from the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (supervisor: Prof. Rong-Gen Cai), and a Ph.D. degree in Astronomy from the University of Cambridge (supervisor: Prof. George Efstathiou FRS). He conducted CITA National Fellowship at the University of British Columbia Canada and a research associate at the University of Manchester, and then moved to the University of KwaZulu-Natal South Africa as a senior lecturer (2015) and then an associate professor (2018) and a full professor (2021).  In 2023, he moved to Stellenbosch University as a full professor and the founding head of astrophysics division in physics department. He chairs the NAOC-UKZN Computational Astrophysics Centre and the Chinese-South African Forum of Astronomy. He was also an adjunct professor at Purple Mountain Observatory and National Astronomical Observatory China during 2017-2021, and 2025-now.

His research focuses on observational and theoretical cosmology aimed at understanding the fundamental laws of the Universe and uncovering the nature of dark energy and dark matter. He is currently a core member of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Science Working group, the Planck science team, Hydrogen Epoch Reionization Array (HERA), and the CMB Stage-4 experiment and LSST (Vera C. Rubin Observatory). With the Planck science team, he was awarded the 2018 “Gruber Cosmology Prize” by the IAU. He has published over 130 papers, with total citations exceeding 39000, h-index 49. He was awarded the NSFC Oversea Scholar grant and several South Africa National Research Foundation grants. He was elected to the Academy of Science of South Africa in 2022. He was awarded South Africa’s National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) Research Award in 2025. He was elected to be the vice President of African Astronomical Society (AfAS) for 2025-2027.

马寅哲教授在南京大学获得物理学学士学位，在中国科学院理论物理研究所获得硕士学位（导师：蔡荣根院士），并在英国剑桥大学获得了天文学博士学位（导师：George Efstathiou）。并在加拿大和英国从事博士后研究。2015年来到南非夸祖鲁纳塔尔大学工作，先后任高级讲师、副教授、正教授。2023年出任南非斯坦陵布什大学正教授，开创了该校物理系天体物理分部并担任主任。他领导了南非和中国的基于SKA的天文合作，被人民网称为“连接中国与南非天文学的桥梁”。曾担任中国科学院紫金山天文台兼职研究员(2017-2021)，国家天文台兼职研究员(2019-2021), 2025年被再次聘为国家天文台兼职研究员。 他的研究在观测和理论宇宙学。他目前是平方公里射电望远镜阵列（SKA），欧洲宇航局Planck卫星团队，中国五百米射电望远镜FAST，美国-南非HERA望远镜和 LSST (Vera C Rubin Observatory)的核心成员，并主持若干国际合作研究项目。他发表了140多篇论文，被引总数超过39000，h-index 为 49。2022年当选为南非国家科学院院士。2025年获得南非国家科学与技术论坛研究成就奖，同年兼任非洲天文学会副理事长（2025-2027）。