Cosmology at Princeton
Cosmology at Princeton is represented in the Physics Department, Department of Astrophysical Sciences, and at the Institute for Advanced Study. The research areas cover everything from theories of how our Universe (and possibly others) came into existence to measuring the large scale structure and evolution of the Universe, to searching for gravitational waves from the birth of the Universe. Theory, data analysis, and instrumentation are all vigorously pursued in an interactive and vibrant community. Projects in the Astrophysics Department mesh with those in the Physics Department, although in these pages we focus on Physics. Research in theoretical cosmology (Pretorius, Steinhardt) tends to focus on areas where high energy theory, particle physics, and astronomy meet (inflation, cyclic models, the character of dark matter). The experimental and observational research (Groth, Jones, Page, Staggs) is focused primarily on the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The first targeted measurements of the anisotropy in the CMB were done at Princeton by David Wilkinson and Bruce Partridge. We are now deeply involved with WMAP, CMB ballooning, we lead the ACT telescope in Chile, and the ABS and QUIET experiments, also in Chile.
Graduate students move freely between University departments, and postdoctoral scholars at the University work with those at the IAS. Collaborations are abundant.