Speaker
Description
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) remains one of the most powerful probes of the early universe, providing insights into its composition, geometry, and evolution. While early studies focused on temperature anisotropies, the next frontier lies in precise measurements of CMB polarization. In particular, detecting the curl-like B-mode pattern would provide compelling evidence for primordial gravitational waves generated during inflation, offering a unique window into physics at energy scales far beyond terrestrial experiments.
This talk will begin with an overview of CMB observations and their role in cosmology, then highlight key results from the POLARBEAR experiment, which pioneered polarization measurements and set important constraints on B-mode signals. Building on these achievements, I will introduce the Simons Observatory—a next-generation ground-based experiment—and discuss its strategy to improve sensitivity, tackle systematic challenges, and advance the search for primordial B-modes. In addition, I will touch on how polarization observations can probe new physics, including axion-like particles through cosmic birefringence, illustrating the synergy between cosmology and fundamental physics.
