The CSCE: An
The observational astronomy component of the CSCE is centered around MSU's share of the SOAR 4.1m optical/infrared telescope. We will use this guaranteed-access observing time in collaborations between the astronomy group, the nuclear astrophysicists at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, and particle physicists in MSU's High Energy Physics Group, who together make up the CSCE. This will foster joint observational and theoretical studies of:
- the transition from low amplitude perturbations at the time of decoupling (when the Universe was only 350,000 yrs old) to the highly structured Universe that surrounds us today.
- the detailed evolution of galaxies and galaxy clusters as steps in this growth of structure.
- the fundamental nature of the dark matter and dark energy which together control the overall course of this evolution.
- the evolution of the chemical makeup of the Universe as a result of these driving processes.
