The Vieregg Group

Experimental Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology

We study cosmology and neutrino astrophysics utilizing radio and millimeter wavelength detection techniques.

Radio Detection of Ultra-high Energy Neutrinos: We are leaders in the design, development, simulation, and analysis of data from experiments that look for ultra-high energy astrophysical and cosmogenic neutrinos through the radio emission that is made as a result of neutrino interactions on Earth. We lead major experiments in this field, including RNO-G, and PUEO.

Precision Measurements of CMB Polarization: We build telescopes that make precision measurements of the polarization of the CMB to learn about an inflationary period in the early universe and about the properties of neutrinos, among other things. We are involved in SPT, BICEP, and the development of CMB-S4, a large-scale ground-based CMB experiment.

Scroll down to read more about research and news from the lab.

Ongoing Projects

PUEO

We are the lead institution on the PUEO experiment, a NASA long-duration balloon (LDB) experiment and a part of the NASA Pioneers program. Currently in construction, PUEO will aim to detect radio signals generated via the Askaryan effect from the highest energy neutrinos interacting in the Antarctic ice sheet. PUEO will be sensitive to higher energy neutrinos than other techniques. PUEO is scheduled to launch from McMurdo Station in Antarctica in December of 2025.

RNO-G

We are co-leading the development and deployment of RNO-G, an in-ice radio detector that is being deployed to Summit Station in Greenland. RNO-G builds on the success of ARA and incorporates new interferometric phased array trigger technology. RNO-G will have the sensitivity required to observe ultra-high energy neutrinos. Construction is in progress, with eight out of 35 total science stations completed.

CMB-S4

We are part of the CMB-S4 collaboration, a next-generation ground-based experiment studying the cosmic microwave background. The instrument, located at the South Pole and in Chile, will be made up of a suite of small and large aperture telescopes, housing 500,000 detectors. In particular, we are interested in constraining inflation and properties of neutrinos by measuring the B-mode Polarization signature in the CMB. 

 BICEP

We collaborate on the BICEP/Keck Array series of CMB telescopes at the South Pole, a suite of small aperture telescopes that have placed world-leading constraints on the energy scale of inflation in the early universe.  BICEP3 and BICEP Array receivers are currently operating at South Pole.

SPT

We collaborate on the South Pole Telescope (SPT), a 10-meter CMB telescope, with particular interest in combining data from SPT and BICEP to further constrain the physics of inflation, by delensing BICEP data with data from SPT to improve sensitivity to inflationary B-modes in the CMB. We are also interested in astrophysical transients in the sub-mm and in development of a next-generation camera for SPT.

Our Team

The Vieregg Lab Great Bake-Off, December 2024

Abigail Vieregg

David N. Schramm Director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics

Professor, Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Enrico Fermi Institute, KICP. Ph.D., UCLA, 2010.

CVPublications

Cosmin Deaconu

Research Assistant Professor, Ph.D. MIT 2015.

Eric Oberla

Research Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Chicago 2015.

Christoph Welling

KICP Postdoctoral Fellow, Ph.D. FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg 2022.

Keith McBride

Grainger Postdoctoral Fellow, Ph.D. OSU 2022.

Philipp Windischhofer

Grainger Postdoctoral Fellow, Ph.D. Oxford 2022.

Anna Kofman

Postdoctoral Scholar, Ph.D. UPenn 2024.

Scott Mackey

Physics Graduate Student

Rachel Scrandis

Physics Graduate Student

Nat Alden

Physics Graduate Student

Zachary Martin

Physics Graduate Student

Lucas Glickman

Undergraduate student, Molecular Engineering and Economics

Natalie Orrantia

Undergraduate student, Physics

Marissa Boucher

Undergraduate student, Physics

Aidan Nicholas

Undergraduate student, Physics

Grant Drager

Executive Assistant to Abby Vieregg

This could be you!

We are always looking for new members! Contact Abby (avieregg@kicp.uchicago.edu) if you’re interested in joining our group.

News About Our Group

Our lab has been featured….

Graduate Student and Postdoc Alumni

KICP Fellow Alum

Amazon

KICP Fellow Alum

Associate Professor at Wisconsin-Madison

Ph.D. Student Alum

Associate Data Scientist at Longevity Holdings Inc.

Ph.D. Student Alum

Scientist at JPL

Ph.D. Student Alum

Assistant Professor at Ohio State University

Ph.D. Student Alum

Bank of America

Nicole Larsen

KICP Fellow Alum

Department of Defense

Kelli Michaels

Masters Student Alum

Contact Us

Our research group is part of the Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics (KICP), the Department of Physics, the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, and the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago.

For general group questions, please contact Grant Drager at gdrager@uchicago.edu.  Abby Vieregg can be reached via email at avieregg@kicp.uchicago.edu, or at the following mailing address:
University of Chicago, 5640 S. Ellis Ave – ERC 499/429, Chicago, IL 60637

Scroll to Top