Physical Society Colloquium

Looking for cracks in the cosmological model

Jo Dunkley

Department of Physics and Department of Astrophysical Sciences
Princeton University

Recent observations of the cosmic microwave background are allowing us to scrutinize the ‘Lambda - Cold Dark Matter’ cosmological model, and to weigh in on possible cracks in this model that may be appearing from different astronomical observations. I will describe recent results from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, and show how the relic CMB light can be used as a backlight to weigh cosmic structures, and to map out the dark matter and cosmic gas over half the sky. I will also describe prospects for an improved view of the physics of the early universe from these data, and from the upcoming Simons Observatory.