Marcela Carena: The Invisible Universe

Most of the universe is invisible. In fact, ordinary matter—the building blocks that make up stars, planets, people and even bicycles—accounts for only about five per cent of everything in the universe. Why, then, are we here? Why is the universe not entirely invisible?

On Wednesday, September 16, Professor Marcela Carena, Executive Director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, invites audiences on a fascinating tour of the unseen universe at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts in Kingston.

Carena will explore how an energy field known as the Higgs field “turned on” following the Big Bang. This field gave elementary particles such as quarks and electrons the mass necessary to form nuclei and atoms. Without that extraordinary process, the ordinary matter surrounding us—and life as we understand it—could not have developed.

The presentation will also examine dark matter, an invisible form of mass spread throughout the universe. Although it does not emit or reflect light, scientists can observe its gravitational effects. Dark matter created a kind of cosmic scaffolding, helping galaxies form and shaping the large-scale structure of the universe.

Carena will then turn to gravitational waves, the ripples in space-time produced by some of the universe’s most powerful events. New research into these waves may reveal connections between the activation of the Higgs field and the imbalance between matter and antimatter. That imbalance may help explain why the matter we know and love exists today.

Professor Marcela Carena is a renowned particle physicist whose work has advanced our understanding of the origins of particle mass, the emergence of matter and the nature of dark matter. Her latest research combines particle physics and quantum information to investigate questions about quantum theory in the early universe.

The Invisible Universe offers science enthusiasts, students, families and curious minds an opportunity to explore some of existence’s greatest mysteries alongside a leading theoretical physicist.

Event Details

Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, Kingston
Register HERE