Next Generation CMB Analysis

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We can use light as a kind of time machine, and by looking far away we can see back in time. The ultimate limit of this lets us see a snapshot of the universe when it was less than 400,000 years old, and is the oldest light we can see. The universe was a simpler place then, with the first stars and galaxies hundreds of millions of years in the future. This simplicity has turned out to be a boon for astronomers, as we can learn about the fundamental properties of the universe without worrying about the still poorly-understood ways in which stars and galaxies were formed. Previous results in this field have transformed cosmology into a precision science, and have let us measure basic parameters like the age of the universe to better than 1% accuracy. While this snapshot of the universe (called the cosmic microwave background or CMB) has already taught us a tremendous amount about the universe, new telescopes will let us learn even more in the coming decade. We will search for the signs of cosmic inflation, widely believed to be what set the properties of the universe today. We will measure the mass of the neutrino, ghostly particles that can freely stream through light years of lead without hitting anything. We will also look at the shadows cast by galaxy clusters, the most massive objects in the universe. This will help us understand the complicated physics driving the structure of clusters. These new telescopes will create a flood of data that must be ever more accurately analyzed to unlock the secrets of the universe. The current tools we have are not enough to handle the upcoming experiments with the necessary precision. I will train Canadian students to develop the new tools to deal with this data, and to analyze CMB data on Canadian supercomputers. This in turn will enable us to play leading roles in international collaborations at the cutting edge of cosmology research and answer fundamental questions about the nature of thecosmos.