Theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner, Kip Thorne, came to the BYU campus to lecture about his discoveries and theories surrounding gravitational waves and black holes on Nov. 20.
The Joseph Smith Building’s auditorium overflowed with eager BYU students and scientists hoping to be admitted into Dr. Thorne’s lecture. Not only was every seat filled, but visitors lined the walls and aisles.
“At BYU, we strive to seek all truth through both spiritual and scientific approaches,” said Grant Jensen, dean of BYU’s College of Computational Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
Before Thorne began his remarks, Jensen implored students to consider how they, like Thorne, could contribute their own future findings to the world of science.
“Students, you will make new discoveries and build new technologies that we can’t even imagine today,” Jensen said.
Thorne was joined and introduced by his childhood friend, Elder Quentin L. Cook from the Quorum of the Twelve.
“Kip is, and always has been, one of the kindest, warmest and most ethical people with whom I have had the opportunity to associate," Elder Cook said. "In addition, he has a great sense of humor.”
Throughout his introduction, Elder Cook praised Thorne’s sense of humility and ethics in all of his pursuits.
“He never tried to take credit for anything, even when he won the Nobel Prize in physics,” Elder Cook said.
Thorne won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2017 for his work with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). He was also a major consultant on the film “Interstellar” and wrote multiple texts, such as “Gravitation” and “The Warped Side of Our Universe.”
As he began his lecture, Thorne commended BYU and the insightful interactions he's had there.
“Some of the best questions I’ve ever been asked have been from students at BYU,” Thorne said.
Thorne shared his beginnings with astronomy, detailing how his original passion was to be a snowplow driver until his mother took him to his very first lecture about the solar system.
“I was just enchanted by the enormous distances between the planets and the very small size of the planets compared to those distances,” Thorne said.
As he pursued his newfound fascination with astronomy, Thorne found new inspirations in George Gamow’s book “One, Two, Three … Infinity." When he discovered that space and time are warped, his passions began to shift.
“I was just totally enchanted with this idea of laws in physics and Einstein’s relativity laws. So I abandoned astronomy and decided I’d be a physicist who worked on astronomical topics, so here I am,” he said.
This shift would turn out to be highly influential for both his life in science and those he would consider to be colleagues in his future endeavors.
“I don’t know any others, among my friends, who made the decision to go into a science like this so early. But it really was due to my mother — to whom I am forever grateful,” Thorne said.
Thorne spent a majority of his time at the lecture discussing various discoveries, particularly concerning gravitational-wave astronomy, black holes, neutron stars and the beginnings of the universe.
Though most of his work was dedicated to studying gravitational waves at LIGO, Thorne shared a few of his goals in expanding LIGO’s resources.
“By the 2030s, we expect, we hope, if Congress will even fund it, we expect to have a 40-kilometer successor to LIGO beginning and going into operation. It’s called Cosmic Explorer,” he said.
In addition to Cosmic Explorer, Thorne spoke about building three different kinds of gravitational-wave detectors and measurements: LISA, Pulsar Timing Areas and CMB Polarization. Thorne also shared that his teams are working toward starting a bigger European-based detector.
Thorne dedicated the last portion of his lecture to discussing the beginnings of the universe. He particularly focused on the Big Bang theory. However, he also said that there were many discoveries and theories that the generations sitting in front of him would bring to light.
“We are just at the beginning of gravitational-wave and multi-messenger astronomy … I am convinced that gravitational-wave astronomy and multi-messenger astronomy together will revolutionize our understanding of the universe by the end of this century and beyond,” Thorne said.
Thorne was met with a standing ovation after his concluding remarks.
