Joseph Thornton

PhD thesis: TBC

My PhD will focus on theoretical and observational cosmology, particularly looking at the large scale structure of the universe and what statistical analysis of different tracers of this structure can tell us about its nature. I will be particularly focused on the Cosmic Microwave Background, the oldest light in the universe. The CMB gives us information about the early universe, but also provides a probe of later times as different phenomena affect its travels towards us. An example of this is CMB lensing, when the light from the CMB is deflected by the large-scale distribution of matter, a map of this effect can act as an unbiased tracer of the matter distribution of the universe. This work involves extensive datasets and sophisticated models to both process the information we receive, and interpret its meaning in the context of Cosmology.

Who or what inspired you to pursue your research interests?

My initial interests were in amateur astronomy, on a much more local scale, mainly interested in planets and nearby stars and galaxies. I was observation secretary for the Cambridge University Astronomical Society for three years during undergrad, but switching to astrophysics as a degree changed my academic area of focus. My Part III project focused on weak gravitational lensing of dwarf galaxies as a potential probe of dark matter, and it was through discussions with my supervisor and the Cosmology courses on offer that I became enamoured with the universe on a larger scale.