Discovering Properties of Neutrinos, Inflation, and Dark Energy Using the Cosmic Microwave Background

The objective of this research is to undertake data analysis for the NSF-sponsored ACTpol and AdvACTpol experiments. These experiments are seeking to better understand the thermal radiation (known as the cosmic microwave background, or CMB) left over from the time of recombination in Big Bang cosmology. The ACT is the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, a 6m-diameter millimeter wavelength telescope located at 17,000 ft elevation in northern Chile. Broader impacts of the work include mentoring of female undergraduates, and research training of graduate students and a postdoc. The awardee will also visit elementary schools and museums to lead astronomy education activities as part of the Project ASTRO program. The research will focus on CMB science including inflation and lensing B modes, and CMB weak lensing. The former informs our knowledge of cosmic inflation during the big bang, and the latter can provide information on the mass of neutrinos. Millimeter sky simulations with polarization will also be created.