Research in Cosmic Microwave Background (UC Berkeley Campus)
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The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is a unique window to fundamental physics. It can be used to probe primordial gravitational waves, which are a distinct sign that the early universe has experienced an exponentially rapid expansion at its age of ~10^-32 seconds. The CMB photons also probe the properties of "dark" contents of universe: neutrinos, dark energy, dark matter, and dark radiation.
Benjamin Westbrook helps manage professor Adrian Lee's CMB group on campus.
Our lab has an opportunity for a student to participate in research on CMB observation and its instrumentation. Possible research topics include: participation in the Simons Array experiment (one of the most sensitive CMB observatories under construction) through instrument development and data analysis, analyses combining CMB data and other cosmological probes such as optical surveys, and development of new technologies for next generation CMB experiments. The research activities involve sub-K cryogenics, superconducting detector technologies, electronics, programming, and numerical algorithm development.
Qualifications: Applicants should be in physics or engineering program. It is desirable for applicants to have experience in computer programing, hardware and machining works, and/or digital/analog electronics works. The expectation is for a student to work more than 9 hours a week at the site, although there may be exceptions depending on specific projects.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Benjamin Westbrook
Hours: 9-11 hrs
Off-Campus Research Site: Physics North
Mathematical and Physical Sciences