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Physical Society ColloquiumInterview for Faculty PositionAfter WMAP: Next Generation CMBAsantha CoorayCaltechThe Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) measured, primarily, fluctuations in the intensity, or temperature, of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The interest is now on the precise detection of CMB polarization and the measurement of its anisotropy structure. A certain aspect of the polarization distribution is expected to contain a signature of gravitational waves that were generated at the earliest times of the universe during the inflationary epoch. With a high recommendation from the National Research Council, NASA now considers the detection of this primordial gravity wave background, a smoking-gun signature of inflation, as one of its highest priorities over the next decade. We will discuss theoretical aspects of this signature, issues related to its detection, and what we will learn about the universe with the Exploration Probe of Inflationary Cosmology (EPIC) mission.
Friday, February 6th 2004, 16:00
Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, R.E. Bell Conference Room (room 103) |