Xth School of Cosmology
  5 -10 July 2010 at IESC, Cargèse

The Cosmic Microwave Background at High Angular Resolution



Scientific Context

With the successful launch of the Planck satellite in May 2009, a new observational window opens up in cosmology. This mission is intended to finely analyze the temperature fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and will allow us to better study and constrain the early universe, in particular inflation. Among the scientific goals of this mission we expect :
  • A better determination of the power spectra of the temperature fluctuations and E-mode polarization, and thus a more accurate measurement of the (slow-roll) parameters describing the inflaton potential
  • A possible detection of the B-mode polarizationB
  • A possible detection of non-gaussianity or the establishment of tighter constraints, either on primordial fluctuations or late-time induced nonlinear couplings
  • Establishment of best current constraints on the total mass of neutrinos.
Faced with the emergence of these new themes, the school will allow the cosmological community to consolidate its expertise. It will not address the Planck data - which will not be public at that time - but will explore the phenomenological and theoretical advances brought by this mission

The scientific aim of this school is to show how the new generation of data will allow to look for signatures characterizing the models of the early universe. The school will cover the physics of the cosmic microwave background, with particular emphasis on new aspects which are the most relevant to the confrontation of theories with observations. In particular :
  • New models of the early universe and their predictions (NGs, spectral index, gravitational waves)
  • The polarization of the cosmic microwave background and what we can learn from it
  • The effects of gravitational lensing
  • The origin, characterization and measurement of non-Gaussianities
 

Processing and statistical analysis of temperature fluctuations of the CMB — CMB Lensing — Inflation in the early Universe — Polarization of the CMB — Detection of non-gaussianity and their interpretation — Mass of neutrinos


Training Objectives : The objectives of this school is the training of researchers, a reciprocal upgrade of communities involved, and learning new analytical techniques. The residential formula of the school will contribute at this rapprochement.

Readership : This school is intended primarily for CNRS researchers and academics in the fields of astronomy, theoretical physics, elementary particle physics. Researchers belonging to other communities can also be concerned, especially those associated with processing and data analysis which wish a transfer knowledge.
    • The target population consists of a majority of physicists related to data processing, followed by a community of researchers associated with general relativity and to grand unification approaches and partly by observational cosmologists motivated by an effective collaboration for an appropriate treatment of their data.
    • The school is also open to postdocs and PhD students, giving them advanced training, which will give them the opportunity to know each other and be appreciated by their elders.
Prerequisite : One requires a doctoral level in either Astrophysics or in Theoretical Physics.

Scientific Committee
 Monique Arnaud (CEA/Sap), Francis Bernardeau (CEA/IPhT), François Bouchet (IAP), Stéphane Charlot (IAP), François Couchot (LAL), Lev Kofman (Univ. Toronto), Màrio Novello (ICRA/Rio), Jean-Loup Puget (IAS), M. Sasaki (Univ. Tokyo), Roland Triay (CPT), Filippo Vernizzi (CEA/IPhT), David Wands (Univ. Portsmouth)

 

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