Using the Cosmic Microwave Background to Explore the Composition of the Universe

Abstract

The cosmic microwave background has provided information on the history of the universe that can be used to make constraints on the cosmological parameters. This project’s aim is to explore some possible constraints, and to calculate desired error bounds for future observational studies with respect to the ability to make such constraints. To do this, the open source code CMBfast is used to produce analytical models for different cosmological parameters. The models fit the expected results and error bounds were made with the data produced. Some areas of future work include expanding the analytical models to include more parameters and using these models in conjunction with new observational data.