Cornell’s researchers Probe Beyond the Big Bang
Cornell’s experimental cosmology research group recently announced the first results from a Cosmic Microwave Background study using a polarization-sensitive camera (ACTPol).
A long tradition of research in cosmology at Cornell College of Arts and Sciences gave birth to a vigorous effort by a new generation of cosmologists to understand the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the thermal radiation left over from the Big Bang.
"A big part of all knowledge about the history of the universe as a whole is revealed when you fully understand the WBC," said Michael Niemack, assistant professor of physics, which focuses on labor shares CMB.
Cosmology, the study of the nature and evolution of the universe, has made great strides in the past 30 years, said Jeevak Parpia, professor and chair of physics. "We are in an era of cosmology" precision "."
"This is a time of rapid progress in the field," says Liam McAllister, associate professor of physics and an expert on string theory teacher. "I'm not sure about this new discovery published any day see arXiv tonight."
Henry Tye, Horace White Professor of Physics Emeritus, was one of the first to realize inflation in string theory, and left a legacy of unusual cooperation with Cornell among cosmologists of all kinds. McAllister said it is rare to find a school like Cornell where meaningful collaborations among string theorists, experimentalists and astronomers, as their research and Niemack by associate professor of Astronomy Rachel Bean.
"Cosmology at Cornell University is a wonderful example of the culture of collaboration within the arts and sciences disciplines, instrumentalists and highly qualified to reflect on the theoretical implications of physical laws" the researchers said Gretchen Ritter, Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
"The search for the CMB is a rich, constantly evolving field with a mixture of science that excites both astronomy and physics communities," said Terry Herter, president of astronomy. "Trying to understand the origin and evolution of the universe and fundamental physics at the same time -. There is nothing better than this"
McAllister, Receives National Science Foundation Award for his work on early theoretical models of the early universe career, seeks to understand how theories of inflation that occurred in the early universe can be based on a certain theoretical basis and outside a mathematically consistent structure.
"We want to understand the physics behind inflation," he said. "One of our responsibilities as theorists is to try to predict future results and interpret experimental results from existing experiences."
McAllister, what is needed is a theory in which the laws of gravity are inherently quantum mechanical, but behave according to classical physics in systems that are quite large and slow. So far, he said, string theory is the only approach that provides a consistent theory of quantum gravity.
Experimentally, measurements of the CMB at higher resolution than Niemack continues directly related to tests of general relativity Bean interested.
The completion of the Cornell Caltech Atacama Telescope (CCAT), which will be the largest submillimeter telescope in the global project will be a boon for cosmologists, Niemack said. Bean and he intends to use CCAT to investigate clusters of galaxies with much higher speeds than is now possible accuracy.
Experiments probing the CMB have the potential to reveal the laws of nature in a much more fundamental than that level has proved otherwise manner. "For example, the results of the observations of the CMB polarization could have a transformative effect on the types of problems related to the early universe theorists continue," McAllister said.
"That's what makes it so attractive," said Niemack. "Any of these experiences or observations basically could change the way we view the universe."
Experimental cosmology
Experimental research group at Cornell cosmology - including assistant professor of physics Michael Niemack, Francesco De Bernardis postdocs and Shawn Henderson, and graduate students Brian Koopman and Patricio Gallardo - recently announced the first results of a micro waves of cosmic microwave background using a polarization-sensitive camera (ACTPol) Niemack who led the design of the Atacama Cosmology for 6 yards.
"ACTPol has a unique place in science that can chase better than anyone else because of the capabilities we have built in our instrument," Niemack said. "We are looking for small, tiny signs, roughly a part in 107 over the bottom of a range of scales that have not been examined before."
An update will be completed this year will add three times more detectors and channel ACTPol additional frequency, allowing the group to investigate the physics at the energy scale of grand unification, the energy of a billion times higher than they were tested in the large Hadron Collider.
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