Mapping Dark Matter on Large and Small Scales with the Cosmic Microwave Background

Suny At Stony Brook, Stony Brook NY

Investigators

Abstract

The light of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) carries a wealth of untapped information including how the Universe was created and the properties of the elusive neutrino particles. A new generation of CMB experiments are coming online, due in part to a significant investment in experimental infrastructure. However, there is a critical need to complement this with a significant investment in the analysis of the current and upcoming data. This award will allow the necessary data analysis to measure the masses of the neutrino particles with Advanced ACTPol (AdvACT) data. This award will also allow the development of analysis to detect gravitational waves from the early Universe, using Simons Observatory (SO) data,to understand how the Universe was created. The broader impacts of this proposal are that the PI will bring the excitement of cosmological research to young female undergraduates, elementary-school students, and the public. The PI will do this by: 1) mentoring and instructing women undergraduates through the Stony Brook Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Honors program, by 2) being a ``visiting classroom astronomer'' in local elementary schools as part of the Project ASTRO program, and by 3) giving public talks several times per year on a variety of topics such as Dark Matter, Dark Energy, the Early Universe, Gravitational Waves, and the Cosmic Neutrino Background. The first research objective of this proposal is to measure how much gravitational lensing has bent the CMB light as this light has travelled to us, using AdvACT data, in order to measure the masses of the neutrino particles. The second research objective is to co-develop the B-mode delensing analysis to detect primordial gravitational waves, as well as oversee all CMB lensing analyses for SO needed for key SO science goals. The proposed research is potentially transformational because it could result in a detection of the sum of the neutrino masses with AdvACT data. In addition, this research could enable a detection of primordial gravitational waves with SO data, shedding critical light on how our Universe began. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.