Searching for Polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background

Sarah Kernasovskiy is a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University and the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC).    Her research focuses on the measurement of B-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), including the technological developments needed for the next generation of telescopes.  A positive detection of B-mode polarization would be direct evidence for the theory of cosmic inflation as well as setting the energy scale of inflation.

Sarah's graduate student work focused on BICEP2 and the Keck Array, which are microwave telescopes at the South Pole.  Sarah has completed 4 seasons at the South Pole Station on these projects.  Outside of research, she is an avid trail runner, having completed several 100 milers as well as the Race Around the World.  Sarah received her undergraduate degree in Physics at California Institute of Technology in 2008,  and completed her PhD in Physics at Stanford University in 2014 with her thesis 'Measuring the Polarization of the CMB with the Keck Array and BICEP2'.

In her talk, Sarah will discuss the various telescopes used in the CMB measurements, research goals and findings, as well as give us a glimpse of the challenges of life and research at the South Pole Station.

Speaker: Sarah Kernasovskiy, Stanford