Gravitational Physics from the Cosmic Microwave Background

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Professors Lyman Page, Suzanne Staggs, and David Wilkinson will measureminute variations in the temperature and polarization of the cosmicmicrowave background radiation (CMB). The CMB is now widely accepted asthe remnant radiation from the fiery big bang. It is the oldest lightin the universe and may be thought of as a fossil of the cosmicconditions that gave rise to such objects as galaxies. The CMB hascooled with the expansion of the universe so that it now emitspredominantly in the microwave region of the spectrum. The researchfocuses on two open questions: to what degree is the CMB polarized andhow does the intensity of the radiation vary from position to positionon the sky on angular scales of order a tenth the size of the moon.Both questions are pursued through the development of newinstrumentation coupled with new observational and data analysistechniques.Cosmology is in the midst of a revolution. Through new technologies andtechniques, coupled with theoretical advances, the physics of theuniverse is being comprehended in ways only dreamt of a decade ago.The CMB, already having played a central role in the currentunderstanding, is the premiere tool for making the next advances.Measurements of the polarization and fine scale angular distribution ofthe CMB directly address the following questions: what were the sourcesof dynamism in the universe just 300,000 years after the big bang?what are the properties of the new form energy, the recently discovered"cosmological constant"? how exactly did the first cosmic structuresform? and how much of the universe is made of the material ofwhich we are made?