Description

Our universe is driven by unseen forces. From the earliest moments when-we suspect-all structures were seeded by quantum fluctuations, to the formation and evolution of the cosmic web, to the mysterious accelerated expansion of the Universe today, the evolution of our cosmos has been driven by invisible content. Determining the nature of the dark universe: what, precisely, drives the dynamics during these different epochs, is one of the great science questions of our time.

The University of Washington Dark Universe Science Center brings experts in dark matter, dark energy, inflation, and gravity together with those who study how these invisible ingredients drive the evolution of the Universe along with the stars, black holes, and galaxies within it. By combining observations of the cosmos with direct measurements of the Universe’s invisible content, we hope to fundamentally change our understanding of Nature.

Partners

UW Seattle, College of Arts and Sciences and Department of Physics, Department of Astronomy, eScience Institute

Funders

Individual grants from the DOE, NSF, NASA. The Royalty Research Fund, the College of Arts & Science, the Department of Physics, the Department of Astronomy, the Dr. Ann Nelson Endowed Professorship, and a Sloan Fellowship.