Mid-scale RI-1 (M1:DP): Consortium Proposal for CMB-S4 Design Development

University Of Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

The search for primordial gravitational waves as direct evidence for cosmic Inflation is one of the most important goals of fundamental physics and cosmology today. This goal has long been recognized as a top research priority for the astrophysics community, as recommended by the NRC's "Quarks to the Cosmos" report (2003), the Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey (2010), and the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5), Building for Discovery: Strategic Plan for U.S. Particle Physics in the Global Context (2014). The cosmic microwave background (CMB) research is also selected as one of the strategic priorities for Antarctic Sciences. The CMB Stage 4 (CMB-S4) program represents a coming-together of almost the entire U.S. community of CMB researchers. This program is built on decades of CMB measurements from the ground, and it will be a major thrust of the CMB community for the next two decades. CMB-S4 will use the technologies developed from the considerable investment made in CMB science to date, extending them to far larger scales, both to cross critical science thresholds in our understanding of the Universe and to provide a powerful and unique millimeter-wave survey covering 80% of the sky at high cadence over seven years to serve the worldwide astronomical community in the era in which multi-wavelength and multi- messenger astrophysics is a path to new understanding and discoveries. This award will support an Interim Project Office (IPO) tasked with developing the CMB-S4 program through the MREFC-scale "Preliminary Design Phase". The CMB-S4 "Strawperson Concept" was accepted by the Astronomy & Astrophysics Advisory Committee that advises NSF, DOE, and NASA. The award's results will be reviewed by the joint NSF/DOE panel for readiness to move forward to the equivalent of the "Final Design Phase" as an NSF/MREFC and DOE/MIE project. CMB-S4 telescopes will be deployed at the South Pole Station (Antarctica) and the Atacama Plateau (Chile). With its large increase in sensitivity, CMB-S4 will transform understanding of the origin and evolution of the Universe and the underlying physical laws that govern it. The CMB-S4 program will cross critical thresholds in testing the theory of Inflation, determining the number and total masses of neutrinos, constraining possible new light relic particles, providing precise constraints on the nature of Dark Energy, and testing General Relativity on large scales. This award addresses and advances the science objectives and goals of the NSF's "Windows on the Universe: The Era of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics" program. This award is supported by the Foundation-wide Mid-scale Research Infrastructure program and will be managed by the Office of Polar Programs within the Directorate for Geosciences. 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.