My group’s research in physical cosmology examines the structure and properties of the Universe. We work mostly on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), and also on topics like large-scale structure, the cosmic X-ray background, gravitational weak lensing, and extra-galactic radio sources.
An early epoch of cosmic inflation imprints a distinct, but not yet observed, signal in the CMB polarization power spectrum, called “B-modes.” This prospective signal has inspired a huge experimental effort to target it in the coming decade. Although technically challenging, detection would provide a powerful confirmation of this inflationary picture, and open an exciting new window on the physics of the early Universe.
The group is part of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration, the Simons Observatory collaboration, and the collaboration preparing for the stage IV project CMB-S4. The postdoc can contribute to efforts to:
- improve algorithms for CMB map-making and filtering
- simulate and study the statistics of polarization foreground contamination
- study large scale structure in cross-correlation
I will help the postdoc with the development of technical, analytical, and computational skills. I will provide guidance on grant writing, time management, professional development, and science writing. The group provides access to the Simons Observatory network of outside mentors at Universities and National Laboratories.