Title: 'On the detection of spectral ripples from the Recombination Epoch'
Supervisors: Frank Briggs (ANU), Ravi Subrahmanyan (RRI)
Collaborators: N Udaya Shankar (RRI), Jens Chluba (University of Manchester)
Background: Photons emitted during the epochs of Hydrogen and Helium recombination are predicted to appear as additive distortions to the Cosmic Microwave Background spectrum. Detecting and measuring these cosmological recombination lines would help confront our understanding of the thermal and ionization histories of the Universe, serve as a unique probe to measure pre-stellar Helium abundance and provide an independent method to constrain certain cosmological parameters. More details can be found in the review paper by Sunyaev & Chluba (2009) and references there in. The aim of my thesis is to explore the detectability of these weak and broad cosmological signals and develop a prototype element to detect the same. An array of 128 such elements would then comprise APSERa : An Array of Precision Spectrometers for the Epoch of RecombinAtion, an experimental venture at the Raman Research Institute with the science goal of detecting the ripple like weak signals arising from the epoch of recombination.
Contact at RRI:
Mayuri S.Rao
Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics
Raman Research Institute
C. V. Raman Avenue, Sadashivanagar
Bangalore 560 080
INDIA.
mayuris@rri.res.in
Contact at ANU:
Mayuri S.Rao
Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mount Stromlo Observatory, Cotter Road
Weston Creek, ACT 2611
AUSTRALIA
mayuri.s.rao@anu.edu.au