Saturday Science Lecture with Michael Ogilvie on When Forces Collide: Pattern and Structure in our Universe

The fundamental forces of nature are typically important at very different length scales. Gravity is important on the largest scales of our universe, while electrical forces are important at atomic scales. Nuclear forces act at still smaller scales inside the nucleus of atoms. This hierarchy gives rise to the structure of much of the world as we know it. However, in special cases two forces are both important at once, leading to rich, complicated behaviors. The structures and patterns emerging from this interplay of forces can give rise to exotic patterns and structure at many different scales, from astronomical scales down to atomic scales. Efforts are underway to look for such behavior in dense nuclear matter at even smaller scales.