RUI: Preparing for the era of cosmic microwave background polarimetry

University Of Richmond, Richmond VA

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This research program will address several timely questions about the analysis and interpretation of observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, with particular emphasis on upcoming observations of CMB polarization and design of CMB polarization telescopes. Techniques will be developed for optimizing the design of future instruments, with particular emphasis on interferometers, which have been less well-studied than single-dish telescopes. Numerical methods for extracting the weak but important B (magnetic field) component from a polarization map will be developed. Finally, a detailed study will be performed of possible explanations for several anomalies in the large-scale maps of CMB temperature anisotropy. Broader impacts of this program include undergraduate student training in research and participation in the Richmond Physics Olympics.