Several fundamental issues in gravitational physics will be investigated. These are related to the physics of the very early universe, unification of Einstein's general relativity and quantum physics, and the final stages of black hole formation and mergers. Although cosmology has witnessed spectacular progress over the past decade, fundamental problems remain. Through a judicious unification of general relativity with quantum physics, over the last five years, our team has provided a detailed theoretical paradigm as to what "really" occurred near the big bang. Detailed consequences of this "physics beyond Einstein", including potentially observable effects, will be analyzed in detail using a combination of analytical and numerical techniques. Black hole formation and collisions are violent events where the full non-linearity general relativity is important. State of the art mathematical tools will be used to describe how these black holes settle down to their final equilibrium.
This research will continue to have an impact on a number of disciplines in fundamental science (general relativity, cosmology, and quantum physics), areas of pure and applied mathematics (functional analysis, geometry and computational science) and philosophy of science. As in the past, Ph.D. students and post-doctoral scholars will trained in these broad areas of knowledge. Because the public is fascinated by the fundamental questions that will be addressed, there will also be a significant contribution to outreach through public lectures, articles and reports in semi-popular magazines, electronic media including scientific videos and YouTube clips and an active collaboration with artists interested in representations of the cutting edge scientific ideas.
