Optimizing Next Generation Cosmic Microwave Background Experiments to Probe Inflation

 Image
  • Nuclear, Particle, Astroparticle and Cosmology (NUPAC) Seminars

April 7, 2026 2:00 PM
PAIS 3205

Host:
Darcy Barron
Presenter:
Wilber Dominguez (UNM)
The Cosmic Microwave Background has imprinted in it information on the initial conditions of the universe. Inflation, a period of rapid expansion at the earliest epochs, generates primordial tensor perturbations in the form of gravitational waves. In order to probe for inflation, CMB instruments will need to improve measurements of the lensing B-mode polarization signal, which acts as a foreground at small angular scales, in order to uncover the primordial B-mode signal at large angular scales which serves as a direct probe for primordial tensor perturbations. Making these measurements requires increasingly large arrays of superconducting transition edge sensors (TES) and drives the need for increasingly scalable cryogenic readout technologies. Results characterizing the thermal and electrical performance of prototype components designed for CMB-S4, including wiring and SQUID series array (SSA) amplifiers, will be presented. These results inform the design of next-generation TES readout architectures with higher multiplexing factors. The South Pole Telescope upgrade (SPT-3G+), set to deploy in 2029, will employ a microwave multiplexing readout design which will also be presented.

Upcoming Events

LEGEND: recent results and future prospects in the search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in 76Ge
Jason Detwiler (Univ Washington)
Physics and Astronomy Colloquium
Aug. 21, 3:30 PM - Aug. 21, 4:30 PM
PAIS 1100

Constraining mysteries of QCD in vacuum and quark-gluon plasma
Preeti Dhankher Lesser (Nikhef)
Nuclear, Particle, Astroparticle and Cosmology (NUPAC) Seminars
Aug. 25, 2:00 PM
PAIS 3205

TBA
Ramya Bhaskar (Sandia)
Nuclear, Particle, Astroparticle and Cosmology (NUPAC) Seminars
Sep. 1, 2:00 PM
PAIS 3205

Cosmic Explosions and Cosmic Accelerators: The Dawn of the Multimessenger Age
Regina Caputo
Physics and Astronomy Colloquium
Sep. 25, 3:30 PM - Sep. 25, 4:30 PM
PAIS 1100