This proposal unites the development of cutting-edge instrumentation for a balloon-borne telescope studying the evolution of galaxies via the new technique of 'line intensity mapping' (LIM), with the application of novel methods to the Dark Energy Survey (DES) lensing data to characterize the growth of structure in the universe.
On the experimental side, the student will work on the Terahertz Intensity Mapper (TIM), a balloon-borne far-infrared spectroscopic telescope. This will start with the instrument test flight, proceed to characterizing the sensitivity and response of state-of-the-art superconducting detectors, and culminate in a new measurement of cosmic star formation rate. On the theory side, he will develop and employ methods for extracting new cosmological information from DES weak lensing data using 'beyond 2-point' statistics (higher-order estimators and Convolutional Neural Networks). This will allow him to optimally extract the complete set of parameters probed by DES, producing qualitative and quantitative improvements in the cosmology analysis. The main synergistic bridge expected between these projects will be the development of a sophisticated theory of galaxy populations within dark matter halos for modeling LIM measurements.
For the duration of the grant, the Fellow will have a doctoral advisor (James Aguirre) at the legal organization (Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania) and a cross-discipline advisor (Bhuvnesh Jain) at the same organization (Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania).
