Marc Kamionkowski, Uroš Seljak, and Matias Zaldarriaga have introduced numerous techniques for the study of the large-scale structure of the universe as well as the properties of its first instant of existence. Their work includes a mathematical means for studying the early universe that not only has allowed both theorists and observers to test and ultimately embrace a standard cosmological model but, in the coming decade, will allow researchers to probe the existence of gravitational waves in the so-called inflationary era, when the age of the universe was 10-35 seconds.
Matias Zaldarriaga Photo Credit: Andrea Kane, Institute for Advanced Study
