Mr. Jason W. Henning is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of Chicago. The fellow will investigate signatures of inflation in the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the afterglow light from the big bang. Cosmic inflation is a theorized period of rapid expansion in the earliest moments of the universe. It generates features in the polarization of the CMB that are contaminated by other polarization sources. To accurately measure these features and learn more about inflation, these other sources of polarization must be well-characterized and removed from the observations. Mr. Henning will develop techniques for characterizing contaminants, and will also contribute to design and testing efforts to construct a new camera designed specifically to measure CMB polarization with high resolution and fidelity. Furthermore, to demonstrate that research is an exciting and engaging enterprise, Mr. Henning will design new content for several outreach venues providing an insider's look into scientific research. Through interactive displays, live talks, and real-time social media, he will provide access to how research takes place while it's happening.
Primordial B-modes are expected to be imprinted in the CMB by gravitational waves generated during inflation. This primordial signal, however, is contaminated by lensing B-modes difficult to measure and remove by low-resolution experiments. Mr. Henning will focus attention on two high-resolution CMB polarization experiments probing primordial B-modes in order to constrain inflation. He will lead a campaign of detector characterization and design efforts for the upcoming SPT-3G experiment. He will also extend and develop techniques to analyze datasets from the SPT-POL and SPT-3G experiments at large angular scales, which will include methods for polarized foreground removal and de-lensing in particular, a unique ability made possible by high-resolution experiments. For outreach education, Mr. Henning will expand several successful programs by generating new content with the goal of providing a window into research. He will contribute to new Adler Planetarium exhibits about microwave detection technologies and the South Pole Telescope and lead audiences through them during live Astronomy Conversations. He will also integrate SPT data into the WorldWide Telescope and create a guided tour of data analysis. Finally, Mr. Henning will organize and generate content for several social media outlets to relay the everyday activities of current research to the public in real-time.
