3:30 pm
Maria Goeppert-Mayer Lecture Hall
Kersten Physics Teaching Center
Room 106
5720 S. Ellis Avenue
Advancing CMB Cosmology: ACTPol, Simons Observatory, and CMB-S4
Jeff McMahon, University of Michigan
Host: Young-Kee Kim
Abstract:
Measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are a powerful probe of the origin, contents, and evolution of our Universe. CMB measurements continue to improve according to a Moore’s law under which the mapping speed of experiments improves by an order of magnitude roughly every five years. This rapid progression in our ability to measure the CMB has translated into a series of scientific advances including showing our universe to be spatially flat, constraining inflationary and alternative theories of the primordial universe, and providing a cornerstone for our precision knowledge of the Lambda-CDM model. Observations with the current generation of experiments, including Advanced ACTPol, will soon produce improved cosmological constraints. Building on this work, in the coming decade Simons Observatory and ultimately CMB-S4 will: pass critical thresholds in constraints on inflation and light relativistic species; provide improved measurements of dark energy, dark matter, neutrino masses, and enable searches for new surprises.
In this talk I present the design and status of measurements with Advanced ACTPol and how we are building on this work to realize the next generations of experiments including Simons Observatory and CMB-S4. I will highlight the technological advances that underlie the rapid progress in measurements including: polarization sensitive detectors which simultaneously observe in multiple colors; metamaterial optical elements; and overall advances in experimental design. I will present preliminary new results from ACTPol and conclude with science forecasts for the coming decade.