A summary of C. J. Duell, E. M. Vavagiakis et al., "CCAT-prime: Designs and Status of the First Light 280 GHz MKID Array and Mod-Cam Receiver," Proc. SPIE 2020 (in submission), https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.10411 The CCAT-prime project's first light array will be deployed in Mod-Cam, a single-module testbed and first light cryostat I designed, on the Fred … Continue reading CCAT-prime: Designs and Status of the First Light 280 GHz MKID Array and Mod-Cam Receiver

A summary of E. M. Vavagiakis et al., "The Simons Observatory: Magnetic Sensitivity Measurements of Microwave SQUID Multiplexers," IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 2020 (in review) https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.04532 Cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment cameras rely on superconducting detectors and readout systems which are sensitive to magnetic fields. Experiments like the Simons Observatory (SO) use these devices for … Continue reading The Simons Observatory: Magnetic Sensitivity Measurements of Microwave SQUID Multiplexers

Paper summary: E. M. Vavagiakis, N. F. Cothard, J. R. Stevens, C.L. Chang, M.D. Niemack, G. Wang, V.G. Yefremenko, J. Zhang 2019. “Developing AlMn Films for Argonne TES fabrication,” Journal of Low Temperature Physics, arXiv:1910.10199. The reference design for the next-generation cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment, CMB-S4, relies on large arrays of transition edge sensor (TES) … Continue reading Developing AlMn films for Argonne TES fabrication

This past May, I gave a Science on Tap talk at Casita Del Polaris. The cozy downtown Ithaca bar and event space is home to this series of talks which gives the public the chance to connect with scientists and learn about their work in an informal setting. To learn more about the series, check … Continue reading Using the universe as a lab for neutrino physics

ProtoDUNE is helping lead the way for the next generation of long-baseline neutrino experiments, and is exceeding expectations. DUNE, the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, will deploy four massive Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LArTPCs) totaling 40 kilotons of liquid argon to study neutrinos, one of the universe’s most elusive particles. Time Projection Chambers use sensitive … Continue reading The Largest Liquid Argon Neutrino Detector in the World: ProtoDUNE

I wanted to plot the locations of BOSS DR12 galaxy positions on top of the map of the CMB I'm currently working with. I didn't find an easy example of this online, so here's the simplest method I've found to do this, using "regions" in SAOImage DS9. I'm using version 7.5. I started with a … Continue reading Plotting catalogs over FITS images in ds9

This week I'm taking over the Facebook and Twitter pages for the Simons Observatory! I was lucky enough to get the first social media shift within the new rotation we've established in the Education and Public Outreach group in SO. I'm looking forward to seeing posts from scientists in SO's member institutions across the country … Continue reading Telescope tweets

A small number of us from the Simons Observatory (SO) cryogenics working group met at the University of Pennsylvania this week to dig into the beginnings of design requirements for the large-aperture telescope's cryogenic receiver. The sheer size of this cryostat (~2.5 meters in diameter) makes it an exciting design challenge. It will house the optics … Continue reading Designing a cryostat for Simons Observatory

Reporters came through the lab last week to interview us for this press release (link). Not an everyday experience for a physicist! We have announced the vendor for the Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope-prime (CCAT-p) project: Vertex Antennentechnik GmbH. You can view the rendering of the telescope design in the press release above. CCAT-prime will be a 6-meter … Continue reading We’re building CCAT-prime!

The first edition of the CMB-S4 (Cosmic Microwave Background “Stage-4”) science book has appeared on the arXiv this year, detailing how the next generation CMB experiment will be designed to use the oldest detectable light in our universe to investigate some of the biggest open questions in physics today. The ground-based, multiple telescope CMB-S4 experiment … Continue reading Neutrino physics with CMB-S4