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Throughout history, people have wondered what the universe is made of. Modern astronomy shows that the visible—stars, gas, and galaxies—is only a small fraction of reality. In this public lecture, “The Invisible Universe: The Higgs, Dark Matter, and Gravity Waves,” Prof. Marcella Carena, Executive Director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, will explore the unseen scaffolding and hidden forces that shape everything around us.

She begins with the Higgs boson, the particle tied to the mechanism that gives fundamental particles mass. Discovered at CERN in 2012, the Higgs answers a central question in particle physics and links the microworld of quantum fields to the universe’s large-scale structure. Prof. Carena will explain, in everyday language, how the Higgs was found and why it matters for our understanding of matter and forces.

Next, she confronts dark matter—the mysterious, invisible substance that outweighs ordinary matter in galaxies. Though dark matter cannot be observed directly, its gravitational fingerprints are unmistakable. Prof. Carena will outline the astronomical evidence, survey the leading particle-physics candidates, and describe the diverse experimental hunts underway, from deep-underground detectors and particle colliders to space-based observatories.

Finally, she turns to gravitational waves, ripples in spacetime first observed directly in 2015. These waves open a new sensory channel to the cosmos, allowing scientists to “listen” to cataclysmic collisions of black holes and neutron stars. Prof. Carena will describe how gravitational-wave observatories operate and what these signals reveal about the most extreme phenomena in the universe.

Drawing on decades of research in particle physics and leadership in theoretical physics, she will emphasize the interplay between theory and observation, the technologies that enable discovery, and the profound questions that remain. Join Prof. Carena for an accessible, inspiring tour of the universe’s invisible side—no specialist knowledge required; all are welcome.