cosmic microwave background

To understand why scientists are excited about detecting a new background, just look to the history of studies of the CMB.

From Physics, Jan. 31, 2023: Fermilab scientists are part of a group of researchers using cross-correlation measurements combining data from the Dark Energy Survey and the South Pole Telescope to determine cosmological parameters with greater precision. The analysis involved more than 150 researchers with results published as a set of three articles in Physical Review D.

For decades, scientists have tried to find a way to measure the mass of the lightest matter particle known to exist. Three new approaches now have a chance to succeed.

With CMB-S4, scientists hope to connect a sandy desert with a polar desert—and revolutionize our understanding of the early universe.

When she’s not studying the Cosmic Microwave Background at the South Pole in subzero temperatures, postdoctoral researcher Sasha Rahlin warms up with beach volleyball in Chicago.

From AZoMaterials, Feb. 18, 2021: Fermilab scientist Jeff McMahon and his research team have designed a new kind of metamaterials-based antireflection coating for the silicon lenses used in cameras used to capture the cosmic microwave background.

A Fermilab scientist and his team have developed a new way to make antireflective lenses, enabling big discoveries about the cosmic microwave background radiation and the fabric of the universe.

The U.S. Department of Energy has selected Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to lead a DOE/NSF experiment that combines observatories at the South Pole and in Chile’s high desert. Fermilab plans to be a key partner on the experiment, called CMB-S4, which aims to undertake an unprecedented survey of the early universe.

From UChicago News, Feb. 6, 2020: Fermilab and University of Chicago scientist Brad Benson and colleagues use a different method to calculate the masses of distant galaxies: the polarization, or orientation, of the light left over from the moments after the Big Bang. In doing so, they demonstrate how to “weigh” galaxy clusters using light from the earliest moments of the universe — a new method that could help shed light on dark matter, dark energy and other mysteries of the cosmos.

For the first time, a team of scientists has used the orientation of light left over from the early universe to detect gravitational lensing from galaxy clusters – the bending of light around these massive objects. Using gravitational lensing data taken by the South Pole Telescope and the Dark Energy Camera, Fermilab scientist Brad Benson and colleagues have demonstrated a new way to “weigh” galaxy clusters and ultimately shed light on dark matter, dark energy and other mysteries of the cosmos.