The CMU astrophysics group is involved in cutting-edge research covering the whole electromagnetic spectrum but focussed on extragalactic research and cosmology. Research specialities include the following; AGNs, Black Holes, Cluster Evolution, Cluster Finding, Cluster Physics, Galaxy Formation Galaxy Evolution, Instrumentation, Lensing (Weak and Strong), Measurement of Cosmological Parameters, Sunyaev Zel'dovich Effect.

The research of the CMU Astrophysics and Cosmology group covers a wide range of problems in observational cosmology. From the study of the earliest energy emission in the universe -the Cosmic Background Radiation- to the evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes and the formation of large-scale structure. Group members have access to data from a variety of major telescopes and space missions, including the Chandra and XMM X-ray satellites, and the Hubble Space Telescope. CMU is a partner in The National Virtual Observat ory and in the 11m SALT telescope in Sout h Africa. CMU also owns a 2m sub-millimeter telescope, Viper, at the South Pole. CMU astrophysicists are also building PAST , which will become the world's largest radio telescope, to detect the signature of the first stars. Computer resources are vital to the success of any modern astrophysics group. The CMU group owns a parallel copmputing cluster and has access to the Ter aScale facilities of the Pittsburgh Super Computing center.

Recent results include those in the study of supermassive blackholes , strong lensing; the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect; the X-ray background; numerical simulations; and ``baryon wiggles''. The group has also made preliminary measurements of many of the fundamental cos mological parameters including Hubble's Constant, Omega Matter, Omega Total and sigma-8. The group has major involvements in some of the most exciting projects in cosmology and extra-Galactic astronomy e.g. ACBAR, AMiBA, MDS, PAST .

Research Descriptions of Individual Faculty (Also refer to the homepages to the left)

Tiziana Di Matteo's research interests focus on studies of black holes encompassing a wide range of topics in both High Energy Astrophysics and Cosmology. They include theoretical studies of the interplay between black hole growth and galaxy formation and investigations of various aspects of the physics of accretion disks around black holes. This resarch is motivated by the fact that it is now well-established that black holes are an important feature of our cosmic environment. Stellar-mass black holes number in the millions in every galaxy; there is now conclusive evidence that black holes as massive as a billion suns reside at the centers of most galaxies. Black holes are thought to power the most energetic phenomena in the Universe from quasars to, perhaps even Gamma-Ray-Bursts.

Rupert Croft is an observationally oriented theorist working within the "Standard Model" of modern cosmology. This includes the big bang, initial quantum fluctuations, and dark matter. Using this framework, Physical Cosmologists such as Dr. Croft are beginning to understand how structures form, how the action of gravity amplifies initially tiny perturbations, giving rise to huge superclusters of galaxies, through individual galaxies, stars and ultimately our own planet. His research uses as a tool computer simulation codes (running on parallel computing facilities established in the Physics department) which evolve model universes forwards in time, subject to the laws of Physics which have been included: gravity, gas dynamics, radiative cooling and so on. Dr. Croft develops and checks analytical theories of how astrophysical processes take place against the outputs of these numerical codes, which also provide realistic predictions to be compared to the wealth of new observational data.

Richard Griffiths is a NASA Co-Investigator for the Chandra X-ray Observatory - one of NASA's Great Observatories - and is also a Mission Scientist for the corresponding European satellite, the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission, XMM-Newton. He therefore has a large amount of data from both of these satellites, covering deep surveys and active galactic nuclei. Griffiths and Dr. Miyaji are currently amongst the first scientists to analyze the initial Chandra data looking for undiscovered Black Holes in the cores of nearby galaxies and for massive black holes at the centers of some of the most distant galaxies that can be detected. The launch of both of these satellites in 1999 signaled a new era in X-ray astronomy. Dr. Griffiths has observing time on both of these satellites and is using this unique opportunity to solve one of the oldest problems in astrophysics - the source of the Cosmic X-ray Background. Dr. Griffiths has also been the NASA Principal Investigator for the largest program of observations conducted using the Hubble Space Telescope, namely the Medium Deep Survey, on which he works with Senior Scientist Kavan Ratnatunga.

Takamitsu Miyaji's research scope is on cosmological and extragalactic topics, who utilizes the data from generations of X-ray observatories including HEAO-1, ROSAT, ASCA, Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton. His main focus is on cosmological evolution of supermassive blackholes at the centers of galaxies and that of stellar mass blackholes (X-ray binaries) traced by their X-ray emission. In particular, he is investigating the number counts of faintest X-ray sources from subtle fluctuations in the deepest X-ray images of the sky from the NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory. He is also investigating statistical properties of a sample of nearby bright X-ray Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). He is also one of those in the forefront of investigating cosmological evolution of the X-ray luminosity function of AGNs and initial emergence of such population in the early universe.

Jeff Peterson's research group runs the 2-meter Viper telescope presently located at the South Pole. This telescope, which was built by CMU students, began operations in 1998 and has already collected substantial amounts of radio data on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Viper is one of the first CMB experiments to detect the Doppler peak in the spectrum, a result that strongly favors a "flat" Universe. Viper has been used to study the Galactic center, and is now outfitted with the ACBAR receiver to search for galaxy cluster using the Sunyaev-Zeldovic effect. Peterson is also a contributer to the AMiBA project. AMiBA is an interferometer that will be used to study polarization of the CMB.