Description:

Title: Cosmic Microwave Background Measurements from the South Pole

Speaker: John Carlstrom, The University of Chicago

Abstract: The study of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) has driven spectacular advances in our understanding of the origin, make up and evolution of our universe. We now have a standard cosmological model, LCDM, that fits all the cosmological data with only six parameters, although there are some tensions that may hint at cracks in the model. Far from being the last word in cosmology, the model points to exciting times ahead using the CMB to explore new physics, i.e., inflation, dark matter, dark energy, neutrino masses and possible additional relativistic species, and likely make new astrophysical discoveries. This talk will review the latest results and near term plans for CMB measurements, with emphasis on the South Pole Telescope, and briefly discuss plans for the next generation experimental program, CMB-S4.

Speaker Schedule 

Keywords: Physics, Astronomy