Title: News from the Oldest Light: Recent Results from & Future Prospects for Cosmic Microwave Background Measurements in Chile
Abstract: Since the discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), this most ancient radiation has enabled exploration of nearly the whole history of the universe. Detailed measurements of the tiny temperature anisotropies, and the even-more-minute anisotropies of linear polarization, have sourced many of the pieces of confirmatory evidence for the current ^CDM cosmological model. In this talk, I summarize the newest cosmological results obtained from measurements using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), which ceased observing in 2022. Its mission continues in the aims of the Simons Observatory (SO), currently comprising four instruments and soon to expand. These science engines will shed light on open questions in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. I will describe SO’s quest and my work on SO’s first-light instrument, SAT-MF1, alongside the team at UCSD. I will also provide an overview of the status of each of the current SO instruments, all of which are now gathering CMB photons with unprecedented sensitivity.
Host: Kristin Kampp