Gravitational Physics from the Cosmic Microwave Background

莱曼·佩奇、苏珊娜·斯塔格斯和大卫·威尔金森教授将测量宇宙微波背景辐射(CMB)的温度和偏振的微小变化。CMB现在被广泛认为是来自炽热大爆炸的残余辐射。它是宇宙中最古老的光，可以被认为是宇宙条件下产生星系等物体的化石。CMB随着宇宙的膨胀而冷却，因此它现在主要在光谱的微波区域发射。这项研究集中在两个悬而未决的问题上：CMB的偏振程度如何，以及在月球大小十分之一的角度尺度上，辐射强度在天空中的不同位置是如何变化的。这两个问题都是通过发展新的仪器和新的观测和数据分析技术来解决的。宇宙学正在发生一场革命。通过新的技术和技术，再加上理论的进步，人们正在以十年前梦寐以求的方式来理解宇宙的物理。CMB已经在目前的理解中发挥了核心作用，是下一步取得进展的主要工具。对CMB的偏振和细微尺度角分布的测量直接解决了以下问题：大爆炸后仅仅30万年，宇宙动力的来源是什么？新形式能量--最近发现的“宇宙常数”--的性质是什么？第一个宇宙结构究竟是如何形成的？宇宙中有多少是由构成我们的物质构成的？

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?