Cosmology at UC Irvine (Center for Cosmology at UCI)

The UC Irvine Department of Physics and Astronomy has established a research program in modern cosmology – an entirely new field of research at the university.    The new program builds upon the department’s existing strengths in particle physics, particle astrophysics, astrophysics and astronomy, thus expanding the current research at the university to the study of nature at not only the smallest but also the largest scales. As a result, the program – established in July, 2004 – enables scientists at UCI to investigate profound questions at a level of depth and breadth that exists currently at very few other institutions.

Cosmology, one of the oldest sciences, is the exploration of the structure and evolution of the universe. Modern cosmology originated with Einstein’s relativistic theory of gravitation and the discovery of cosmic expansion by Hubble in the 1920s. It has since led to the “big bang” cosmic model and, in recent years, advances in the field led scientists to new concepts such as dark matter and dark energy.

To launch the new program, the department has added four new cosmologists to its faculty:

   ::  Elizabeth Barton, Observational astronomy and astrophysics; galaxy formation and evolution
   ::  James Bullock, Theoretical astrophysics and cosmology; galaxy formation
   ::  Asantha Cooray, Theoretical astrophysics and cosmology
   ::  Manoj Kaplinghat, Theoretical cosmology and astrophysics

Observatories and Research Facilities

  ::  Keck Observatory
  ::  Lick Observatory
  ::  UCI Observatory
  ::  Thirty Meter Telescope project page


Read the press release on UCI's new research program in cosmology (August 27 2004)