In this course students will search for the nature of dark matter, attempt to determine the expansion rate and density of the universe, and explore the origin, evolution, and nature of large galaxy clusters, and other topics. Faculty and students work at major facilities around the world including:

  • The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope in Chile where data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory are analyzed
  • The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva, Switzerland- the world’s largest particle accelerator
  • Nuclear physics accelerators in Virginia and New York
  • The 100-meter diameter radio telescope in West Virginia