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16-02-09 Cosmologists aim to observe first moments of universe

During the next decade,a delicate measurement of primordial light could reveal convincing evidence for the popular cosmic inflation theory.It proposes that a random,microscopic density fluctuation in the fabric of space and time gave birth to the universe in a hot big bang approximately 13.7 billion years ago.Among the cosmologists searching for these weak signals will be John Carlstrom,the S. Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Chicago.Carlstrom operates the South Pole Telescope (SPT) with a team of scientists from nine institutions in their search for evidence about the origins and evolution of the universe.The cosmologists will put the cosmic inflation theory to its most stringent observational test so far.The test - detecting extremely weak gravity waves.Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that cosmic inflation should produce gravity waves."If you detect gravity waves,it tells you a whole lot about inflation for our universe," Carlstrom said.It also would rule out various competing ideas for the origin of the universe."There are fewer than there used to be,but they don't predict that you have such an extreme,hot big bang,this quantum fluctuation,to start with," he said.Nor would they produce gravity waves at detectable levels