Thinking of cosmology as a project and thinking of project management as optics, Prof. Eitan Bachmat, BGU

We will think of the evolution of the universe as the mother of all projects (a point of view taken in the first chapter of genesis). In the 1960s and earlier, several standard tools, CPM, PERT, Gantt charts, where developed to analyze and manage projects. We will recast these tools in terms of optics (ray tracing, Maxwell-Garnett theory, wave fronts) and show that good project management corresponds to lenses. On the practical front, this will lead to the design of super (sub-diffraction limit) lenses in hyperbolic materials and to good airplane boarding policies and will also give a new point of view on the evolution of the universe and chronological time of cosmological models. based on work with Andrea Alu, Sveinung Erland, Yves Simon, Diana Strickland and Enrico Renzi and based on a real story. The talk will be self contained, but watching the last scene of the movie Men in black will be helpful. [[*ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK WITH THE LECTURER AFTER THE TALK PLEASE EMAIL schapman@bgu.ac.il]]