Cosmological Parameter Determination

Elena Pierpaoli is associate professor of physics and astronomy at the USC College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, where she leads USC’s cosmology group. Her research spans a variety of cosmological issues, including dark matter models, galaxy clusters, the early universe, and cosmological parameter determination.

Pierpaoli joined the USC College as its sole cosmologist in 2006. By studying electromagnetic radiation from the early universe, she strives to piece together what the universe was like right after the Big Bang and how this initial explosion gave rise to the universe as it exists today. The characteristics of this relic radiation, also known as cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, represent a phenomenon that must be accounted for by any theory of the universe. CMB has helped shape current understanding of the universe and confirm the Big-Bang theory.

Working with data collected by the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, as well as ground-based and balloon-borne experiments, Pierpaoli has contributed to scientific insights about the shape and structure of the universe as well as its content.

In May 2009, the European Space Agency launched its Planck satellite, carrying a package of telescopes and instruments that will afford researchers like Pierpaoli the best view to date of CMB radiation. Pierpaoli has been a member of the Planck mission science team for more than a decade, helping conceptualize how the Planck data should be used to answer the big questions of cosmology.

HPCC resources allow Pierpaoli to contribute to research in extragalactic astronomy, cosmology, and astrophysics. Her work has received funding from NASA and the National Science Foundation. She has held research fellowships from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Studies and research positions at Princeton University and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).