Rep. Mark Takano, Democrat of Riverside, visited UC Riverside on Aug. 6 to learn about the new Experimental Cosmology Center in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. The center, directed by Nobel laureate Barry Barish, a distinguished professor of physics and astronomy, opened earlier this year.
The center will design equipment for experiments in the field of cosmology and train students to conduct such experiments. It will cover a wide range of topics in fundamental physics, with a focus on experimental cosmology, gravity/gravitational waves, and particle astrophysics.
Richard Seto, vice chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, introduced several faculty members and a student to the congressman and his staff. Barish, who joined the meeting via Zoom, then gave a presentation about the center.
“I think we have a real opportunity here to create something very special that will bring leading-edge science to Riverside, with a lot of spin-offs that will be very beneficial to the community and the university,” Barish said. “This particular initiative focuses on developing cutting-edge technologies that often have a big impact in other ways as well, whether it’s commercial or in other sciences. What we can build at UC Riverside is quite unique and can lead to a lot of groundbreaking technological developments scientifically.”
Barish said the department has hired three new faculty members who will conduct research at the center: Jonathan Richardson, who specializes in gravitational waves; Shawn Westerdale, who works on dark matter; and Steve Choi, who focuses on the origin of the universe.
Westerdale discussed with Takano some of the center’s requirements, such as equipment, facilities and personnel. In addition to securing funding, the center’s goals, he said, include developing the next generation of instruments and training scientists who will develop those instruments.
“Everyone in the department comes together to work toward these goals,” he said.
“It includes people doing materials and atomic physics, people developing semiconductor and quantum technology, and people doing nuclear physics and astrophysics. It’s an example of the kind of multidisciplinary research we’re already doing.”
Takano said he is pleased that UCR physicists are thinking about how to train the next generation of scientists and engineers engaged in basic research.
“I hope we can convince some of my colleagues that global competitiveness means investing in basic research,” he told the physicists attending the meeting. “I have always believed in it. I have a team that believes in it and we certainly want to follow what you are doing.”
In his address to Takano, Peter Atkinson, interim dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, said the Experimental Cosmology Center is “a great example of bringing good science to the Inland Empire and making this university known for the advancement of knowledge.”
“You hear about this great opportunity in physics, but it extends to other departments in our college,” he said. “This is a fantastic place to grow science and educate and teach the local kids how to do great science and become great scientists. My commitment as dean is to make that happen as much as possible.”
