The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: searching for cracks in the Lambda Cold Dark Matter model

The Planck satellite was a mission that mapped the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the echo from the Big Bang, in unprecedented detail between 2009 and 2014. Now, with new data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope in Chile, this project will be able to improve upon the measurements of anisotropies in the CMB. This will allow the team to improve upon cosmological models by determining better estimates for the amount of clustering of galaxies in the universe.

The project includes delivery of new data products and associated software for the broader astronomical community. The team will be built with a focus on diversification of the graduate student body, with an emphasis on training and supporting women in order to promote female role models. The next generation of scientists will be engaged via the participation in the Skype-A-Scientist program in public schools, with the principal investigator providing informal training in science communication to junior group members.

This project will demonstrate whether the Lambda-Cold-Dark-Matter (LCDM) model sufficiently describes the new CMB data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. The new measurements of the polarization power spectrum will reveal whether any significant tensions exist within early-universe data for the LCDM model. By applying techniques from CMB power spectrum analysis the project will demonstrate how well the cosmological model fits a later-universe probe: clusters detected via the Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect, with masses estimated by cross-correlating with gravitational lensing from the Dark Energy Survey.

The broader impacts of this proposal are focused on diversifying the graduate student body through work with the Simons NSBP Scholars' Program. Training and support of junior women and will help promote female role models by participation in public lectures and engagement with the media. The team will seek to enthuse the next generation of scientists via the group's participation in Skype-A-Scientist in public schools.

An additional goal is to educate a more diverse group of students through participation in the Prison Teaching Initiative, teaching math and physics to incarcerated students in New Jersey.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.