News

Ilia State University, with the support of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation (project SPG22-444), will implement the educational project "Let's get to know our world" for students in November-February in the format of Sunday school.

The course for students of IX-XII classes, which includes 15 lectures, will start in November and continue until February. Lecture meetings of the course will be held on Saturdays from 16:00-18:00.

The course will be held in a hybrid format and participants will be able to attend it both remotely (via the Zoom platform) and at Ilia State University.

Topics:

• Lecture 1: The world in a microscope: the forces of nature and the building blocks of matter;
• Lecture 2: Electromagnetic radiation and its interaction with matter;
• Lecture 3: Visible and invisible world;
• Lecture 4: Nuclear reactors in the sky: stars;
• Lecture 5: History of stars;
• Lecture 6: Neutron stars and pulsars;
• Lecture 7: Black holes are not entirely black;
• Lecture 8: Galaxies and our big house - Milky Way;
• Lecture 9: The world is expanding;
• Lecture 10: What does the large-scale structure of the universe tell us?
• Lecture 11: The universe has a beginning – the cosmological singularity;
• Lecture 12: What do we know about the first moments of the universe?
• Lecture 13: Gravity allows us to weigh the universe;
• Lecture 14: The world perceived by gravitational waves;
• Lecture 15: How to predict the future of the world?

Who will teach me?

Lecture meetings are led by professors and researchers of the cosmology group of Ilia State University:

Professor Tinatin Kakhniashvili
Tinatin Kakhniashvili is a full professor of astrophysics at Ilia State University. Participates in scientific projects carried out in international scientific centers (McWilliams Center for Cosmology, USA; NORDITA, Sweden; Pitt-PACC, USA). He is also an associate research professor at Carnegie Mellon University (USA).
Read more: https://faculty.iliauni.edu.ge/engi/tinatin-kakhniashvili/?lang=en

Professor Mikheil Maziashvili
Associate Professor of Ilia State University in the field of elementary particles and cosmology.
Read more:https://faculty.iliauni.edu.ge/engi/michael-maziashvili/?lang=en

Professor Lado Samushia
Researcher at Ilia State University, Associate Professor of Kansas State University (USA).
Read more: https://www.phys.ksu.edu/people/tt-faculty/samushia.html

Professor Bharat Ratra
Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics at Kansas State University (USA).
Read more: https://www.phys.ksu.edu/people/tt-faculty/ratra.html

School teachers will also participate in the project: Otar Ghongadze, Maya Levidze, Gocha Kublashvili and Masters and Ph.D. students of Ilia State University - Salome Mchedlidze, Vato Tsintsabadze.

Whom is the project intended for?

The project is intended for IX-XII graders interested in school subjects and natural sciences who will pass the selection stage of participation in the project - they will confirm their motivation for participation in the electronic application.

The project will be implemented in a fully hybrid format. Therefore, any interested student will be able to participate in it, regardless of the place of residence.

What will I learn?

Cosmology, the science of the universe, is at an important stage of development, so that, on the one hand, we have a systematic theory to describe the structure of the universe and the physical processes taking place in it. On the other hand, we can consistently understand both the birth of the universe and the early stages of evolution, as well as foresee the future.

As a result of observations, it is known that "visible" matter represents no more than 5% of the energy budget of the universe. However, observations of galaxies reveal the presence of "invisible" (hidden) matter in the universe. In addition, it is known that the universe is currently expanding rapidly, which is caused by the presence of "hidden" energy of an unknown nature.

Understanding the nature of these two hidden substances is one of the most pressing issues of modern fundamental physics. These issues are also related to the concepts of the origin of the universe and its possible future.

Thus, cosmology allows us to reconstruct the picture of the universe fully; therefore, it represents the interest of the general public, which goes beyond the interest in physics and astronomy and refers to the philosophical and religious worldview.

"Cosmology" comes from its Greek name (Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos) 'world' and -λογία (-logía) 'teaching/science') and is a branch of metaphysics [Peacock 2010].

Suppose cosmology in a philosophical and religious context is related to worldview and mythology in the context of physics and astronomy. In that case, it focuses on studying the chronology of the universe.

Physical cosmology studies the origin of the universe, and its evolution, and predicts the future of the universe. At the same time, an integral part of physical cosmology is the determination and study of the physical regularities that operate in the universe and determine its dynamics. Modern cosmology is an interdisciplinary science. In particular, physical cosmology is based on gravitation and field theory, quantum and elementary particle physics, nuclear and atomic-molecular physics, statistical physics and thermodynamics, as well as astrophysics and astronomy.

Within the framework of the project, Ilia State University professors, researchers, doctoral students, master's students, as well as internationally recognized scientists will hold meetings with students on this topic.

How will I learn?

Each lecture meeting provided by the project will be held in a hybrid format. During the process of filling out the application, you have the opportunity to specify in what format you want to take the course - entirely remotely or in a physical space.

The entire course consists of fifteen 2-hour interactive sessions, including theoretical teaching and question-and-answer sessions on the topic, discussion around the topic and sharing of information of interest to the participant.

How can I become a project participant?

To participate in the project, you need the following:

• At the time of filling out the electronic application, you must be a student of IX-XII grade of an authorized secondary educational institution in Georgia.
• Fill out the electronic application and provide us with the motivation for participating in the project no later than November 5 of this year.

• Follow the link to complete the electronic application: https://bit.ly/3SOilyF

Applications will be reviewed, and participants will be selected no later than November 10.

We will contact the selected candidates and provide detailed information in the e-mail specified in the application form.

The course will start on November 12, 2022.

Certificate

Each project participant will be awarded a certificate of participation in the course.

In addition to the certificate of participation, after the completion of the project, we will select active students interested in physics and mathematics (based on their survey) and continue working with them to deepen their knowledge - with the support of Ilia State University.

For more information

Project website: physicsoutreach.iliauni.edu.ge

E-mail address: physicsoutreach@iliauni.edu.ge