Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Are you a cosmopolitan with a question about this website?  Then consult this handy list.

What is Cosmopolis?

Cosmopolis is an imaginary city, open for all to visit and explore its public areas.  The (part-time and full-time) residents of this city are called the Cosmopolitans, and all sentient beings in the cosmos are eligible to be entirely as Cosmopolitan as they wish to be.  The government of Cosmopolis consists of the select group known as the Cosmic Questers, who are elected to their positions by the cosmopolity, the body of the official citizens of the city.  Which Cosmopolitans are official citizens of the cosmopolity?  That is, as yet, a closely-guarded secret.

More seriously, Cosmopolis is just the main public website of the Cosmic Questers in their domain, located at, or (more concisely)

Who are the Cosmic Questers?

In our imaginations, the Cosmic Questers are the leaders of the city of Cosmopolis.  In real life, the Cosmic Questers are a group of individuals who are interested in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, and physics in general.

With whom are the Cosmic Questers affiliated?

See here for the answer.

What is the meaning of the domain name

In supersymmetric theories of particle physics, a neutralino is a mixture (with definite mass) of the neutral fermionic sparticles, i.e. the zino, photino, and neutral Higgsino, which are the symmetric superpartners of the Z, photon, and neutral Higgs particles, respectively.

The neutralino is interesting in astrophysics and cosmology because it may be the lightest (and thus most common) sparticle with nonzero mass, and therefore (if supersymmetry is correct), it may be the WIMP (weakly interacting massive particle) which makes up the majority of the mysterious dark matter which has been discovered to comprise most of the matter in the universe.

In other words, it's hypothesized that neutralinos may in fact be the dominant form of matter in the universe, even though we can't see them (yet), other than gravitationally.  But, research in fields such as cosmic-ray astronomy might eventually give us new ways to observe them.

We are a ".org" rather than a ".com" because we, the Cosmic Questers, are, at this point, just an informal, not-for-profit organization.

What services are available at

Besides the ability to post and modify information on these Cosmopolis webpages, these domain services are also available.

How I can get my own account at

Simply contact one of the domain administrators, Michael Frank ( or Ray O'Neal (

What are some of the first things a new user can/should do?

  2. Make sure the User List contains your correct title, email & phone number (edit it if not).
  3. Edit your homepage, which is linked from within (& under) the User List.  A good thing to include on your homepage is a list of the projects you are working on, & a brief description of each.  Place anything else there you would like - a picture of yourself, perhaps.
  4. Under the Projects page, make sure your project is listed - & create a new page for it if not.
  5. Check the Action Items list for items assigned to you.  Add items describing your current tasks.
  6. You may wish to place handy gadgets (email, calendar, to-do list, etc.) on your personal view of the User Portal, and use it as your browser's "start page."
  7. Share important documents with other group members by uploading them to the File Cabinet area, and/or to your homepage and (for Google Docs compatible documents)  (Except, for confidential documents, put them in the Star Chamber's Lock Box instead of in the File Cabinet.)
  8. Create a calendar of your important schedule constraints, upcoming trips, etc. on, and share it with the other group members.

What if I want to create a private page (only viewable by other Cosmic Questers)?

Create it in the Star Chamber, our private site at  Or, you can put it on, but share it only with other Cosmic Questers (not with the whole world).