Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CFHT, CXO, M.J. Jee (University of California, Davis), and A. Mahdavi (San Francisco State University)

The Physics of the Universe community encompasses our research in Astrophysics and Theoretical Physics. Together we study the evolution of the universe and the objects in it, and the theoretical laws of nature at their most fundamental level.

Our research covers cosmology ranging from tests of gravitational theories to innovative statistical analyses for survey data, String/M-theory and its profound connections to quantum field theory and geometry, effective field theories and particle physics, astrophysics from theoretical and observational studies of planet formation and habitability to objects at high redshift, and new approaches to quantum gravity and the foundations of quantum mechanics.