Professor, Canada Research Chair (Tier 1)

我的研究提案的总主题是用新的宇宙学观测来检验基础物理学。在过去的几年里，观测和实验宇宙学已经进入了一个“黄金时代”。实验已经制作了高精度的宇宙微波背景(CMB)温度分布图。高质量的CMB偏振图将在未来五年内推出。从新的光学望远镜上看到的关于大尺度宇宙结构的数据正在快速积累。21厘米的红移测量将为探索这一结构提供一个新的窗口。加拿大在这些观测工作中发挥着重要作用(例如，麦吉尔的马特·多布斯教授)。我计划研究如何利用这些令人兴奋的新数据来探索高能物理的各个方面。我计划从事的一种研究途径是在新的观测窗口中寻找拓扑缺陷的信号，例如宇宙弦。在标准模型之外的许多粒子物理模型中都预测到了拓扑缺陷，在这种情况下，拓扑缺陷不可避免地出现在早期宇宙中，并持续到现在。在宇宙学观测中寻找此类缺陷的信号是探索粒子物理学的一种方式，这是对加速器研究的补充。我们将计算出各种观测窗口中弦的特定信号，并开发统计工具，以便在信号嵌入背景噪声时能够看到这些信号。

The overall theme of my research proposal is to test fundamental physics with new cosmological observations. Observational and experimental cosmology have over the past years entered a ``golden age''. Experiments have produced high precision maps of the temperature distribution of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). High quality CMB polarization maps will become available over the next five years. Data concerning the structure of the universe on large scales as seen from new optical telescopes is accumulating at a rapid rate. 21cm redshift surveys will provide a new window to probe this structure. Canada is playing an important role in these observational efforts (e.g. Prof. Matt Dobbs at McGill). I plan to study ways to use this exciting new data to probe aspects of high energy physics. One avenue of research which I plan to pursue is to search for signals of topological defects such as cosmic strings in new observational windows. Topological defects are predicted in many particle physics models beyond the Standard Model, and in this case inevitably arise in the early universe and persist to the present time. Looking for signals of such defects in cosmological observations is a way to probe particle physics which is complementary to accelerator studies. We will work out the specific signals of strings in various observational windows and develop statistical tools with which the signals can be seen when they are embedded in background noise.