Cosmology at BU
From the first moments after the Big Bang to the origin of galaxies and the nature of dark matter and dark energy, the BU Cosmology Group is dedicated to exploring the Universe’s fundamental mysteries. We deploy a wide range of methods to achieve this goal, including cutting-edge instrumentation, high-fidelity simulations, machine learning, multi-wavelength observations, sophisticated data analysis techniques, and theoretical modeling. Together, we bring both a broad perspective and deep expertise to tackling the hardest questions in cosmology today. BU Cosmology is an inter-departmental effort between Astronomy, Physics, and Computing & Data Science, and is growing rapidly.
Please visit the BU Cosmology Group website for more information.
Research
- BICEP/South Pole Observatory (SPO) | Searching for the signature of cosmic inflation in the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background, using telescopes at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station
- Dark Energy Survey (DES)
- Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI)
- Roman Space Telescope
- Rubin/LSST
- South Pole Telescope Shirokoff Line Intensity Mapper (SPT-SLIM) | Developing Line Intensity Mapping as a probe of large-scale structure at high redshift
- SuperSpec | Developing superconducting on-chip millimeter-wave spectrometers for Line Intensity Mapping
Faculty
Physics Faculty
- Kirit Karkare | Cosmic Microwave Background and Line Intensity Mapping |BICEP/SPO, SPT-SLIM, SuperSpec
- Hongwan Liu | Cosmology and High-Energy Physics
- Martin Schmaltz | Models of particle physics in cosmology
Affiliate Faculty
- Dillon Brout (Astronomy) | Supernova Cosmology |DES, DESI, Roman, Rubin/LSST
- Siddharth Mishra-Sharma (Computing & Data Science) | Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Physics
Other Faculty
- Elizabeth Blanton (Astronomy) | Galaxy Clusters
- Tereasa Brainerd (Astronomy) | Dark Matter Halos, Weak Lensing and Large-Scale Structure
- Emily Cunningham (Astronomy) | Dark Matter in the Milky Way
Recent Highlights
- 2026: Dillon Brout awarded New Horizons Prize in physics.
- 2025: SPT-SLIM deployed to the South Pole Telescope for commissioning observations. SuperSpec deployed to the Large Millimeter Telescope for commissioning observations.
Seminars and Community
Cosmology results from visiting and local speakers are discussed at several seminar series:
- High Energy Theory/Cosmology Seminar: Fridays at 11:00 am, PRB 595
- High Energy Experiment Seminar: Thursdays at 3:30 pm, PRB 595
- Institute for Astrophysical Research Seminar: Mondays at 2:30 pm, 725 Commonwealth Ave. Rm 502
The cosmology group also meets weekly for Cosmology Journal Club, where we discuss recent papers – see the group website for more details.