Michael Niemack

About

Professor Michael Niemack is a faculty member at Cornell University, associated with the Physics Department and the Astronomy Department. His research focuses on experimental cosmology and astrophysics, contributing to the understanding of the universe through observational and experimental techniques. He is involved in projects related to cosmic microwave background studies and other astrophysical phenomena, as indicated by his leadership within the Niemack Group at Cornell. He has a comprehensive academic and research background, mentoring postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate researchers. His group actively participates in various research programs and collaborations, including the Cornell CCAT Team and other scientific initiatives. Niemack's work is characterized by a commitment to advancing experimental methods in cosmology, and he maintains active engagement with the scientific community through his role at Cornell University.

Research topics

• Astronomy
• Astrophysics
• Physics
• Optics
• Remote sensing
• Statistics
• Geography
• Quantum mechanics

Selected publications

• The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR4 maps and cosmological parameters

  Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics · 2020 · 601 citations

  <p>We present new arcminute-resolution maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature and polarization anisotropy from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, using data taken from 2013–2016 at 98 and 150 GHz. The maps cover more than 17,000 deg<sup>2</sup>, the deepest 600 deg<sup>2</sup> with noise levels below 10μK-arcmin. We use the power spectrum derived from almost 6,000 deg<sup>2</sup> of these maps to con…

  DOI

• The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: a measurement of the cosmic microwave background power spectra at 98 and 150 GHz

  Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics · 2020 · 287 citations

  We present the temperature and polarization angular power spectra of the CMB measured by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) from 5400 deg2 of the 2013–2016 survey, which covers >15000 deg2 at 98 and 150 GHz. For this analysis we adopt a blinding strategy to help avoid confirmation bias and, related to this, show numerous checks for systematic error done before unblinding. Using the likelihood for the cosmological analysis we constrain secondary sources of anisotropy and foreground emission…

  DOI

• CMB-S4: Forecasting Constraints on Primordial Gravitational Waves

  The Astrophysical Journal · 2022 · 256 citations

  Abstract CMB-S4—the next-generation ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment—is set to significantly advance the sensitivity of CMB measurements and enhance our understanding of the origin and evolution of the universe. Among the science cases pursued with CMB-S4, the quest for detecting primordial gravitational waves is a central driver of the experimental design. This work details the development of a forecasting framework that includes a power-spectrum-based semianalytic proj…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• CCAT-prime Collaboration: Science Goals and Forecasts with Prime-Cam on the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope

  The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · 2022 · 93 citations

  Abstract We present a detailed overview of the science goals and predictions for the Prime-Cam direct-detection camera–spectrometer being constructed by the CCAT-prime collaboration for dedicated use on the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST). The FYST is a wide-field, 6 m aperture submillimeter telescope being built (first light in late 2023) by an international consortium of institutions led by Cornell University and sited at more than 5600 m on Cerro Chajnantor in northern Chile. Prime-…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Atacama Cosmology Telescope: High-resolution component-separated maps across one third of the sky

  Physical review. D/Physical review. D. · 2024 · 55 citations

  Observations of the millimeter sky contain valuable information on a number of signals, including the blackbody cosmic microwave background (CMB), Galactic emissions, and the Compton-$y$ distortion due to the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect. Extracting new insight into cosmological and astrophysical questions often requires combining multiwavelength observations to spectrally isolate one component. In this work, we present a new arc-minute-resolution Compton-$y$ map, which traces out the…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Cosmology with the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect: Testing fundamental physics and hydrodynamical simulations

  NSF · $144k · 2015–2017

• MRI: Development of 350 GHz instrumentation to characterize Galactic dust polarization with CCAT-prime

  NSF · $1.3M · 2021–2025

• CAREER: Probing Fundamental Physics and Cosmic Structure by Maximizing the Impact of Next Generation Microwave Surveys

  NSF · $721k · 2015–2022

Frequent coauthors

• Suzanne T. Staggs

  Princeton University

  323 shared

• Edward J. Wollack

  Goddard Space Flight Center

  313 shared

• K. D. Irwin

  275 shared

• Lyman A. Page

  Princeton University

  212 shared

• Jonathan Sievers

  212 shared

• Matthew Hasselfield

  Princeton University

  201 shared

• James A. Beall

  Sensors (United States)

  198 shared

• Neelima Sehgal

  192 shared

Labs

• Niemack GroupPI

Education

• Ph.D., Physics Department

  Princeton University

  2008

• M.A., Physics Department

  Princeton University

  2004

• B.A. summa cum laude, Physics Department

  Amherst College

  2002

Awards & honors

• Centennial Fellow, Princeton University, 2002-2007
• National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, National Inst…

Similar researchers at Cornell University

• Lawrence Gibbonsh-121
• Yuval Grossmanh-73
• Eric Dufresneh-69