James J. Bock - Searching for Vibrations from the Big Bang

Moments after the Big Bang, our observable universe underwent a violent growth spurt that flung space apart faster than the speed of light. This "inflationary" expansion explains the basic properties of the universe we see today and laid the gravitational seeds that later grew into clusters of galaxies.

In this talk, Bock will report on the precise measurements he has been making of the cosmic microwave background to learn about the exotic physics that drove inflation. A quest to measure a faint polarization pattern produced by gravitational vibrations from inflation has led him to develop specialized experiments for observing from the South Pole and outer space.

James L. (Jamie) Bock is professor of physics at Caltech and a senior research scientist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Presented by: Caltech Committee on Institute Programs