Applied Physics/Physics Colloquium: Jo Dunkley - "The Simons Observatory"

Abstract: The Simons Observatory, a new millimeter-wave observatory in the Atacama, is now gathering data. With its smaller telescopes we are seeking a primordial signal imprinted by gravitational waves generated in the early universe. Its largest telescope is measuring the finer scales of the CMB with increased sensitivity, probing the initial conditions of the early universe as well as revealing the later-formed cosmic web of gas and dark matter through the gravitational lensing and Sunyaev Zel’dovich effects. It will map half the sky at arcminute resolution, overlapping with a number of large-scale structure surveys including Rubin. By surveying half the sky every couple of days, we also hope to see new types of transient astronomical events in millimeter-wavelengths. I will talk about the current status of SO, and its science plans.

Jo Dunkley is the Joseph Henry Professor of Physics and Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University. She works on the analysis and interpretation of cosmological observations. She is currently the Spokesperson for the Simons Observatory collaboration. Previously she was a member of NASA's WMAP science team and a scientist on the European Space Agency’s Planck satellite project, and was the analysis leader for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society.