Astrophysics and General Relativity

Cornell has long been a leader in theoretical astrophysics—the modeling of phenomena in our solar system, galaxy, distant galaxies, and the early universe. In 1967, the late Professor Hans Bethe was awarded the Nobel Prize for his explanation of how stars shine by converting hydrogen to helium. Today, Cornell astrophysicists explore a wide variety of phenomena, including neutron stars, black holes , gravitational waves, dark matter, dark energy, the cosmic microwave background, and inflation in the early universe.

The study of astrophysical phenomena can involve several areas of theoretical physics, including atomic physics, nuclear physics, condensed-matter and plasma physics, superfluidity, general relativity, and quantum-field theory. It is easy for theoretical astrophysics students to work in more than one research area, or with more than one professor.

Cornell’s theoretical astrophysics group has faculty members in the physics department, as well as the astronomy department, and has close ties to the observational side of the astronomy department. That department administers the world’s largest radio telescope, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which underwent a major upgrade in 1997. Cornell astronomers share the use of the Palomar telescope in California with astronomers from Caltech, and are developing plans to construct a 25-meter sub-mm telescope in northern Chile.