Like the universe itself, the cosmology and astrophysics program at Brown is expanding.
Cosmology is the study of the origin, evolution and fate of the universe.
Astrophysics, on the other hand, seeks to understand the physics of objects in the universe, such as black holes, stars and galaxies. The exact division between cosmology and astrophysics is nebulous and each relies on the other. In cosmology, graduate students are engaged in research to understand the physics of the very earliest universe and the evolution to its current state. In astrophysics, graduate students are developing a detector to measure the solar neutrino flux and spectrum. Robert Brandenberger's theoretical cosmology group explores the tantalizing connections between fundamental physics and cosmological observations.