The University of Chicago Research Funding

• Principal Investigator: John Carlstrom, PhD, S. Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics and Physics, Enrico Fermi Institute, and the College; Director, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics
• Start Date: Febrary 15, 2010
• Total Award Amount: $1,259,490

Project Description

This proposal requests support for the development of a state-of-the-art polarization-sensitive receiver SPT-POL that will be used to conduct a program of cosmological research with the 10-meter South Pole Telescope (SPT). The SPT-POL will be installed on the SPT and used to measure the polarization anisotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation from scales of an arcminute to degrees, starting in austral winter 2012. From the analysis of the resulting polarization maps, the project will determine the angular power spectrum of the CMB B-mode polarization (curl component) induced by the lensing of the intrinsic E-mode polarization (curl-free component) by large-scale structures. The lensing B-mode spectrum provides sensitivity to the neutrino masses through their impact on the growth of the large-scale, lensing structure.

The project will also search for the large angular scale B-mode polarization signal imprinted on the CMB by inflationary gravitational waves generated in the first instants of the Universe. Detection of the inflationary B-mode spectrum would be a spectacular test of the Inflation theory of the origin of the Universe and will set the energy scale of the Inflationary epoch. In addition to the CMB temperature and polarization anisotropy data, the obtained datasets will include a wealth of information including catalogs of massive galaxy clusters and extragalactic millimeter and submillimeter sources.

Continued reliance on students provides a broader impact of this proposed research and firmly grounds this effort in its educational mission. The project will contribute significantly to the training of the next generation of scientists by integrating graduate and undergraduate education with technology and instrumentation development, astronomical field observations, and scientific analysis. The sharing of forefront research with non-scientists will be extended beyond the university through a well-established and vibrant educational network that reaches a wide audience at all levels of the educational continuum.

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, NSF Award number: #0959620.