Researchers at USM are developing and employing the latest approaches of analysing and interpreting cosmological data, including innovative machine learning techniques as well as advanced theoretical methods to understand cosmic structure formation. We are also leading research activities in a large number of international collaborations.
The newly installed Chair for Astrophysics, Cosmology and Artificial Intelligence (ACAI) aims to construct a statistical model that integrates all signatures of cosmic structure available to us. To build this model, Prof. Daniel Gruen and his group are developing and employing the latest approaches of analysing and interpreting cosmological data, including innovative machine learning techniques as well as highly advanced theoretical techniques to understand cosmic structure formation.
At the Chair for Cosmology and Structure Formation, Professor Joseph Mohr and his team are addressing questions about the origins of cosmic structures, the nature of dark matter and the causes of the cosmic acceleration using studies of cosmic structures, including the Universe’s most massive objects – galaxy clusters – as well as the large scale structure and populations of galaxies and AGN. Professor Mohr and his team employ data across the electromagnetic spectrum together with weak gravitational lensing and numerical simulations to fully understand and use these structures for cosmological analyses.
Researchers in the Physical Cosmology Group, led by Prof. Dr. Jochen Weller, at the University Observatory, are confronting modern cosmological theories with observations. They have a strong research program in exploring galaxy clusters and cosmic voids, but also explore more general probes of the large-scale structure and the cosmic microwave background.
Associated to the CAST group, Prof. Klaus Dolag and his group focus on forefront simulations of galaxy clusters and the large scale structure, for example they performed the world's (still) largest cosmological hydro-dynamical simulation Magneticum Pathfinder.
The group focuses on large-scale structure cosmology with modern galaxy surveys. By developing and applying field-level analysis as a novel technique, we aim to unlock the full potential of the data and enable new discoveries.
Jiamin Hou will establish a new Emmy Noether research group at the Physics Department and University Observatory of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in January 2026. She obtained her PhD in 2020 from LMU and received a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship in 2021, hosted jointly by the Max Planck Institute and the University of Florida. She is currently a research associate at the University of Cambridge.