Kansas State University
Email office@phys.ksu.edu for the Zoom address
Abstract
The universe is full of profound mysteries. It is expanding at an accelerated rate—something difficult to explain unless we assume it is permeated by “dark energy.” Moreover, it appears to contain nearly five times more “dark matter” than visible matter. Uncovering the nature of dark energy and dark matter will fundamentally change our understanding of physics and may require modifications to the standard model of particle physics.
One powerful way to approach these cosmic puzzles is to study the large-scale distribution of galaxies and identify meaningful spatial patterns in their clustering. This line of research is the central focus of the DOE- and NASA-funded Cosmic Frontier group at Kansas State University. Together with our U.S. and international collaborators, we work on large, multi-million-dollar experiments that map the history of the universe with unprecedented precision.
In this talk, I will describe some of the projects our group has been pursuing over the past decade and highlight the contributions of our postdocs and graduate students toward answering these fundamental questions.