2 research outputs found
Observing the Evolution of the Universe
How did the universe evolve? The fine angular scale (l>1000) temperature and
polarization anisotropies in the CMB are a Rosetta stone for understanding the
evolution of the universe. Through detailed measurements one may address
everything from the physics of the birth of the universe to the history of star
formation and the process by which galaxies formed. One may in addition track
the evolution of the dark energy and discover the net neutrino mass.
We are at the dawn of a new era in which hundreds of square degrees of sky
can be mapped with arcminute resolution and sensitivities measured in
microKelvin. Acquiring these data requires the use of special purpose
telescopes such as the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), located in Chile, and
the South Pole Telescope (SPT). These new telescopes are outfitted with a new
generation of custom mm-wave kilo-pixel arrays. Additional instruments are in
the planning stages.Comment: Science White Paper submitted to the US Astro2010 Decadal Survey.
Full list of 177 author available at http://cmbpol.uchicago.ed
The Origin of the Universe as Revealed Through the Polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background
Modern cosmology has sharpened questions posed for millennia about the origin of our cosmic habitat. The age-old questions have been transformed into two pressing issues primed for attack in the coming decade: How did the Universe begin? and What physical laws govern the Universe at the highest energies? The clearest window onto these questions is the pattern of polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which is uniquely sensitive to primordial gravity waves. A detection of the special pattern produced by gravity waves would be not only an unprecedented discovery, but also a direct probe of physics at the earliest observable instants of our Universe. Experiments which map CMB polarization over the coming decade will lead us on our first steps towards answering these age-old questions