CMBforward is a project to advance the state of the art in cosmology with new Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarisation data.
The current Standard Model of cosmology remains deeply unsatisfactory and incomplete from a theoretical viewpoint, despite the huge progress made with CMB observations from the Planck satellite. The next frontier to address our most important and unresolved questions in cosmology is the analysis of very precise and accurate measurements of CMB polarisation. Over the next five years, high-resolution and high-sensitivity CMB polarisation data will be collected by current and future ground-based experiments. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) is one of the leading experiments currently operating and from 2023 the new Simons Observatory (SO) will supersede all existing and funded instruments. Data from ACT and SO will provide the statistical improvement needed to reach fundamental theoretical targets and explore regions currently poorly measured, uncovering new regimes to characterise the cosmological model and to test its validity.
This project capitalises on the PI’s expertise built with Planck and ACT, and leadership in SO, to deliver new CMB cosmology from ACT (during 2020-23) and SO (from 2023). The main focus of the project is the development of new, more precise, and robust data analysis techniques for analysis and scientific exploitation of the high volume of incoming data. The team leads work that will take great strides in constraining the properties of neutrinos, the nature of the primordial fluctuations seeding the cosmic structures, the physics of dark matter and dark energy, and the time of cosmic dawn. Recognising the need and importance of a new dedicated CMB satellite, we also work closely with other European partners and space agencies to design the future LiteBIRD CMB mission.
