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William Jones

Department/Program(s):

Physics

Position: Assistant Professor

Title: Assistant Professor of Physics.

Office: 222 Jadwin Hall/Temp 323 Jadwin

Phone: 609-258-4413

Email: wcjones@princeton.edu

Homepage: http://www.princeton.edu/jones/

Our research group designs experiments and develops analytical methods to study the early Universe through observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMB). The existence of this extremely faint radiation is a direct consequence of the expansionary evolutionary history of the Universe. The prediction and subsequent observational confirmation of this relic background represents one of the most important pillars of modern observational cosmology. Comparison of the statistical properties of the CMB with the predictions of parametric models has revolutionized our understanding of the basic physics that governs the large-scale properties of our Universe.

Despite the success of the currently accepted “Standard Model” of cosmology, our understanding of the early Universe is by no means complete. For example, the observed isotropy, homogeneity, and geometry of the Universe, while compatible with the theory, are by no means required by Nature. Several lines of anecdotal evidence seem to indicate that the very early Universe underwent a period of very rapid expansion, termed Inflation, which would not only explain these features, but also provide the necessary conditions for the formation of galaxies and clusters of galaxies that we observe today. Although an Inflationary period seems sufficient to explain the initial conditions from which our current Universe evolved, to date there is no direct observational evidence that would conclusively validate the theory.

An essential step in understanding the origin of the Universe is the detection of the gravitational radiation that would have resulted from such a period of Inflation. Spider is a balloon borne experiment that is designed to search for this Inflationary Cosmic Gravitational Wave Background (CGB) via its unique signature in the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background. Spider will undertake two flights, taking advantage of the uniquely low backgrounds and benign systematic environment of the balloon platform to measure the CGB on the largest angular scales.

In addition to the search for the signature of Inflation, Spider will provide a definitive measurement of the optical depth to reionization, and will lay the technical foundation for any future orbital mission dedicated to the characterization of the CGB.

Currently, our efforts are centered on Spider and Planck HFI. Planck HFI is an orbital mission designed to make maps of the sky in six frequency bands between 100 GHz and 1 THz. This data set will result in cosmic variance limited measurements of the temperature anisotropies out to angular scales beyond the Silk damping tail of the CMB. Planck will launch in April of 2009, Spider in April of 2010.

Selected Publications

Jones, W. C., Montroy, T. E., Crill, B. P., Contaldi, C. R., Kisner, T. S., Lange, A. E., Mac-Tavish, C. J., Netterfield, C. B., Ruhl, J. E., Instrumental and Analytic Methods for Bolometric Polarimetry, astro-ph/0606606, Astr. & Astroph. , 470, Issue 2, 771–785, August 2007.
Jones, W. C., Ade, P. A. R.,Bock, J. J., Bond,J. R. , Borrill, J., Boscaleri, A., Cabella, P., Contaldi,C. R., Crill, B.P., de Bernardis, P. De Gasperis, G., de Oliveira-Costa, A., De Troia, G., Di Stefano, G., Hivon, E.,Jaffe, A.H., Kisner, T.S. , Lange, A.E., MacTavish, C. J., Masi, S., Mauskopf, P.D., Melchiorri, A., Montroy, T.E. Natoli, P., Netterfield, C.B., Pascale, E., Piacentini, F., Pogosyan, D., Polenta, G., Prunet, S., Ricciardi, S., Romeo, G., Ruhl, J.E., Santini, P., Tegmark, M., Veneziani, M., Vittorio, N., Observations of the Temperature and Polarization Anisotropies with Boomerang 2003, New Astronomy Reviews, October 2006.
Jones, W. C., Ade, P. A. R.,Bock, J. J., Bond,J. R. , Borrill, J., Boscaleri, A., Cabella, P., Contaldi,C. R., Crill, B.P., de Bernardis, P. De Gasperis, G., de Oliveira-Costa, A., De Troia, G., Di Stefano, G., Hivon, E.,Jaffe, A.H., Kisner, T.S. , Lange, A.E., MacTavish, C. J., Masi, S., Mauskopf, P.D., Melchiorri, A., Montroy, T.E. Natoli, P., Netterfield, C.B., Pascale, E., Pia- centini, F., Pogosyan, D., Polenta, G., Prunet, S., Ricciardi, S., Romeo, G., Ruhl, J.E., Santini, P., Tegmark, M., Veneziani, M., Vittorio, N., A Measurement of the Angular Power Spectrum of the CMB Temperature Anisotropy from the 2003 Flight of Boomerang, astro-ph/0507494, Astrophys. J. , 647,823–832, 2006.
Montroy, T.E., Ade, P. A. R.,Bock, J. J., Bond,J. R., Borrill, J., Boscaleri, A., Cabella, P., Contaldi,C. R., Crill, B.P., de Bernardis, P. De Gasperis, G., de Oliveira-Costa, A., De Troia, G., Di Stefano, G., Hivon, E.,Jaffe, A.H., Jones, W.C., Kisner, T.S., Lange, A.E., MacTavish, C. J., Masi, S., Mauskopf, P.D., Melchiorri, A., Natoli, P., Netterfield, C.B., Pascale, E., Piacentini, F., Pogosyan, D., Polenta, G., Prunet, S., Ricciardi, S., Romeo, G., Ruhl, J.E., Santini, P., Tegmark, M., Veneziani, M., Vittorio, N., A Measurement of the CMB EE Spectrum from the 2003 Flight of Boomerang, astro-ph/0507514, Astrophys. J. , 647, 813-822, 2006.
Piacentini, F. , Ade, P. A. R.,Bock, J. J., Bond,J. R., Borrill, J., Boscaleri, A., Cabella, P., Contaldi,C. R., Crill, B.P., de Bernardis, P. De Gasperis, G., de Oliveira-Costa, A., De Troia, G., Di Stefano, G., Hivon, E.,Jaffe, A.H., Jones, W.C., Kisner, T.S., Lange, A.E., MacTavish, C. J., Masi, S., Mauskopf, P.D., Melchiorri, A., Montroy, T.E., Natoli, P., Netterfield, C.B., Pascale, E., Pogosyan, D., Polenta, G., Prunet, S., Ricciardi, S., Romeo, G., Ruhl, J.E., Santini, P., Tegmark, M., Veneziani, M., Vittorio, N., A Measurement of the Polarization Temperature Angular Cross Power Spectrum of the CMB from the 2003 Flight of Boomerang, astro-ph/0507507, Astrophys. J. , 647 , 833–839 , 2006.
MacTavish, C. J., Ade, P. A. R.,Bock, J. J., Bond,J. R., Borrill, J., Boscaleri, A., Cabella, P., Contaldi,C. R., Crill, B.P., de Bernardis, P. De Gasperis, G., de Oliveira-Costa, A., De Troia, G., Di Stefano, G., Hivon, E.,Jaffe, A. H., Jones, W. C., Kisner, T.S., Lange, A. E.,Lewis, A. M., Masi, S., Mauskopf, P.D., Melchiorri, A., Montroy, T. E., Natoli, P., Netterfield, C.B., Pascale, E., Piacentini, F., Pogosyan, D., Polenta, G., Prunet, S., Ricciardi, S., Romeo, G., Ruhl, J. E., Santini, P., Tegmark, M., Veneziani, M., Vittorio, N., Cosmological Parameters from the 2003 Flight of Boomerang, astro-ph/0507503, Astrophys. J. , 647, 799–812, 2006.
Runyan, M. C., and Jones, W. C., Thermal conductivity of thermally-isolating polymeric and composite structural support materials between 0.3 and 4 K, arXiv:0806.1921, Cryogenics, 48, 448–454, 2008.
Jones, W. C., Bhatia, R. S., Bock, J. J., Lange, A. E., A Polarization Sensitive Bolometric Receiver for Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background. Millimeter and Submillimeter Detectors for Astronomy. Edited by Phillips, Thomas G., Zmuidzinas, Jonas. Proceedings of the SPIE, 4855, 227-238, 2003.
J. A. Murphy, E. Gleeson, G. Cahill,W. Lanigan, C. OSullivan, E. Cartwright, S. E. Church, J. Hinderks, E. Kirby, K. Thompson, B. Rusholme, W. K. Gear, B. Maffei, P. A. R. Ade, C. Tucker, W. C. Jones, Millimeter-Wave Profiled Corrugated Horns for the Quad Cosmic Background Polarization Experiment, International Journal of Infrared and Millimeter Waves, Volume 26, Issue 4, Pages 505 - 523, Apr 2005.
Ruhl, J. E., Ade, P. A. R., Bock, J. J., Bond, J. R., Borrill, J., Boscaleri, A., Contaldi, C. R., Crill, B. P., de Bernardis, P., De Troia, G., Ganga, K. M., Giacometti, M., Hivon, E., Hristov, V. V., Iacoangeli, A., Jaffe, A., Jones, W. C., Lange, A. E., Masi, S., Mason, P. V., Mauskopf, P. D., Melchiorri, A., Montroy, T., Netterfield, C. B., Pascale, E., Piacentini, F., Pogosyan, D., Polenta, G., Prunet, S., Romeo, G. An Improved Measurement of the Angular Power Spectrum of Temperature Anisotropy, Astrophysical Journal, 599, Issue 2, 786-805, 2003.
Netterfield, C. B., Ade, P. A. R., Bock, J. J., Bond, J. R., Borrill, J., Boscaleri, A., Coble, K., Contaldi, C. R., Crill, B. P., de Bernardis, P., Farese, P., Ganga, K., Giacometti, M., Hivon, E., Hristov, V. V., Iacoangeli, A., Jaffe, A. H., Jones, W. C., Lange, A. E., Martinis, L., Masi, S., Mason, P., Mauskopf, P. D., Melchiorri, A., Montroy, T., Pascale, E., Piacentini, F., Pogosyan, D., Pongetti, F., Prunet, S., Romeo, G., Ruhl, J. E., Scaramuzzi, F. A measurement by Boomerang of multiple peaks in the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background. Astrophysical Journal, 571, Issue 2, 604-614, 2002.
de Bernardis, P., Ade, P. A. R., Bock, J. J., Bond, J. R., Borrill, J., Boscaleri, A., Coble, K., Contaldi, C. R., Crill, B. P., De Troia, G., Farese, P., Ganga, K., Giacometti, M., Hivon, E., Hristov, V. V., Iacoangeli, A., Jaffe, A. H., Jones, W. C., Lange, A. E., Martinis, L., Masi, S., Mason, P., Mauskopf, P. D., Melchiorri, A., Montroy, T., Netterfield, C. B., Pascale, E., Piacentini, F., Pogosyan, D., Polenta, G., Pongetti, F., Prunet, S., Romeo, G., Ruhl, J. E., Scaramuzzi, F. Multiple Peaks in the Angular Power Spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background: Significance and Consequences for Cosmology. Astrophysical Journal, 564, Issue 2, 559-566, 2002.
Koch, T., Paine, C., Husted, L., Minhee Yun, Lange, A., Bock, J., Bhatia, R., Jones, W., Ade, P., Sudiwala, R. Bolometric detectors for the High Frequency Instrument on Planck. Aerospace Conference Proceedings, 7, 3535-3541, 2002.
Barnes, C., Limon, M., Page, L., Bennett, C., Bradley, S., Halpern, M., Hinshaw, G., Jarosik, N., Jones, W.C., Kogut, A., Meyer, S., Motrunich, O., Tucker, G., Wilkinson, D., Wollack, E. The MAP Satellite Feed Horns. Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 143, Issue 2, 567-576, 2002.
Crill, B. P., Ade, P. A. R., Artusa, D. R., Bhatia, R. S., Bock, J. J., Boscaleri, A., Cardoni, P., Church, S. E., Coble, K., de Bernardis, P., de Troia, G., Farese, P., Ganga, K. M., Giacometti, M., Haynes, C. V., Hivon, E., Hristov, V. V., Iacoangeli, A., Jones,W. C., Lange, A. E., Martinis, L., Masi, S., Mason, P. V., Mauskopf, P. D., Miglio, L., Montroy, T., Netterfield, C. B., Paine, C. G., Pascale, E., Piacentini, F., Polenta, G., Pongetti, F., Romeo, G., Ruhl, J. E., Scaramuzzi, F., Sforna, D., Turner, A. D. Boomerang : A Balloon-borne Millimeter Wave Telescope and Total Power Receiver for Mapping Anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background. Astrophysical Journal Supplement, 148, Issue 2, 527-541, 2002.
Bhatia R.S., Chase S.T., Jones W.C., Keating B.G., Lange A.E., Mason P.V., Philhour B.J., Sirbi G., Closed cycle cooling of infrared detectors to 250 mK, Cryogenics, Volume 42, Number 2, February 2002 , pp. 113-122(10).
Bhatia, R.S.B., Chase, S.T., Edgington, S., Glenn, J.G., Jones, W.C., Lange, A.E., Maffei, B., Mainzer, A.K., Mauskopf, P.D., Philhour, B.J., and Rownd, B.K. A three-stage Helium sorption refrigerator for cooling of Infrared detectors to 280 mK. Cryogenics 40 (11), 685, 2000.