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Fully understanding the Universe we live in today requires that we understand how the laws of physics governed its origins and evolution.

Our current picture suggests that the cosmos began from an initial state that was extremely hot and dense and, via expansion and cooling, evolved to the structural form of the Universe that we observe today.

We strive to gain information from the residual echoes of the physical processes that forged the early Universe which are imprinted on the cosmic microwave background and on the large scale distribution of galaxies and intergalactic matter. Any theory encompassing the physics of the early Universe will have to be able to encompass and support the results of these measurements.

Via observations of the interactions of particles at the highest energy accelerators, at high energy densities and through precision measurements at low energy, we aim to progress towards directly studying the particles and forces that are normally not visible in everyday life, but were effective at the birth of the Universe.