The Center for Gravitation and Cosmology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwauke has a history dating back to 1967 when Leonard Parker first arrived at the University. Since then it has become one of the nation's largest and most active research centers in gravitational physics, comprising more than 30 members and nine professors. Research at the Center includes the study of:
Relativistic astrophysics and numerical relativity
Gravitational waves
Quantum and classical gravitation
Quantum fields in curved space-time
Cosmic ray astrophysics
Cosmology
Neutrino astronomy
Members of the Center play an important role in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC). LIGO is an ambitious project to detect and study gravitational waves from astrophysical objects such as black holes and supernovae. Large supercomputers are needed to process all the data generated by this experiment. The Center is home to Nemo, a supercomputer equivalent to more than 1500 personal computers, to do this job.
The group also collaborates with the Pierre Auger Observatory, which is working on solving the origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, the most energetic and rarest of particles in the universe.
The Center for Gravitation and Cosmology is committed to furthering science education and public outreach through several programs. One of them is the Arecibo Remote Control Center at UWM, a group of students and teachers that participates in state-of-the-art research, searching for new pulsars remotely using the world's largest radio telescope.
Another program that was developed at the Center, and that
involves the participation of the public, is Einstein@Home. Volunteers from all around the world sign up their computers to process data from gravitational wave detectors. In this way, people from all around the world can get involved in cutting-edge research.
The Center for Gravitation and Cosmology is supported by the National Science Foundation, the College of Letters and Science, and the Graduate School.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
