Professor, Canada Research Chair (Tier 1)

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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.