EVENT DATE: December 13, 2018
TOPIC: The Life of a Star

Dr Kayll Lake received his PhD from the University of Toronto in the area of General Relativity (Einstein’s theory of gravity). After a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Alberta, he joined the Queen’s Department of Physics and held an NSERC University Research Fellowship from 1980-1990. He has been Full Professor at Queen’s since 1987 and an Affiliate Member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics since 2011. He became President of QUFA in 2017.

His current academic interests include general relativity, computer algebra and its applications, as well as relative astrophysics. Research he has conducted recently in his field includes studies of the propagation of discontinuities in solutions of Einstein’s equations, which help solve the riddle of the formation of the universe. He has also done research on the formation of naked singularities in gravitational collapse, which contributes to a refinement of our notion of cosmic censorship.

In our communication with him concerning his topic, “The Life of a Star,” he wrote “All major aspects of the life cycle of a star are known. The most important feature of a star is its mass. This determines its lifetime and end state. These end states include some of the most bizarre objects known to exist in the Universe and include white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes.” His talk promises to be a very interesting one, giving us a glimpse into the far reaches of the universe which ultimately is our home.