inflationary universe, inflationary paradigm:

an extension of the big bang model characterized by a tremendous burst of expansions. The underlying cause of inflation is not known, though there are many models for it based upon particle physics.

infrared:

a region of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths longer than visible light. Hot objects typically are very bright at infrared wavelengths.

interferometer, interferometry:

interferometer can be used on a single telescope to break up the light into its constituent colors.

intergalactic medium:

the material between galaxies.

inverse square law:

an interaction that becomes weaker as the inverse square of the distance between objects.

ionized atom:

an atom with an excess or deficit of electrons and thus with a net charge. Under terrestrial conditions, most matter has an equal amount of positive and negative charge, so that its net charge is zero.

IRAS:

NASA, British, and Dutch Infrared Astronomy Satellite, which was flown in 1983.

isotope:

two or more atoms of the same element that have the same number of protons in their nucleus but different numbers of neutrons are known as isotopes. Hydrogen, deuterium and tritium are isotopes of hydrogen. Most elements in nature consists of a mixture of isotopes.

jet:

a set of particles produced from the vacuum state by the movement of quarks and gluons with high momentum found in electron-positron annihilation. The energy associated with the quarks and/or gluons ultimately manifests itself in streams of elementary particles which can be detected.

jet, astrophysical:

stream of fast-moving material flowing outward from an object such as a young star or a massive central black hole in a galaxy.

K meson or kaon:

second least massive meson, made of one s quark and one u or d antiquark.

Keck telescopes:

the two largest ground-based (10-meter) optical telescopes, located on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

Kerr metric solutions:

the Kerr metric describes space-time around a spinning mass.

laser interferometer:

a device that uses laser light to make accurate comparisons of the lengths of two perpendicular paths.

Lense-Thirring effect:

synonymous with dragging of inertial frames (q.v.). The effect is named after Josef Lense and Hans Thirring, Austrian physicists who first calculated the general relativistic predictions for dragging in 1918.

Front Matter (R1-R16)

Executive Summary (1-8)

1 Introduction: Where We Are and Where We Can Be (9-14)

2 Foundations: Matter, Space, and Time (15-42)

3 How Are Matter, Space, and Time Unified? (43-59)

4 How Did the Universe Get Going? (60-77)

5 What Is the Nature of Dark Matter and Dark Energy (78-104)

6 What Are the Limits of Physical Law? (105-131)

7 Realizing the Opportunities (132-172)

Appendix A: Meeting Agendas (173-184)

Appendix B: Call for Community Input (185-186)

Appendix C: Project Proposals Received (187-190)

Appendix D: Glossary and Acronyms (191-206)