Interdisciplinary Centre

A new interdisciplinary centre for the study of the frontiers of the universe, from the tiniest subatomic particle to the largest chain of galaxies, has been formed at The University of Texas at Austin. The Texas Cosmology Centre will be a way for the university's departments of Astronomy and Physics to collaborate on research that concerns them both: 'This centre will bring the two departments together in an area where they overlap in the physics of the very early universe,' said Dr. Neal Evans, Astronomy Department chair. Astronomical observations have revealed the presence of dark matter and dark energy, discoveries that challenge our knowledge of fundamental physics. Today's leading theories in physics involve energies so high that no Earth-bound particle accelerator can test them. They need the universe as their laboratory Steven Weinberg, Nobel laureate and professor of physics at the university, called the Centre' s advent a very exciting development for that department.