Walter leCroy Jr. Associate Professor
Columbia University
Department of Physics
538 W. 120th St.
1024 Pupin, Mail Code 5221
New York, NY 10027
email: amber(at)phys.columbia.edu
Office phone:    (212) 854-4987
Fax:                   (212) 854-8121

Research

Amber Miller leads the Columbia University Experimental Cosmology group dedicated to studying relic signatures from the Big Bang with the goal of understanding the origin and evolution of the universe. Specifically, the team studies the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect (SZE) using sensitive centimeter and millimeter-wave instruments designed specifically for this work. The Columbia team designs, builds, deploys, and analyzes data from novel telescopes employing cutting edge technology, much of which is piloted and tested by the group. The QUIET and EBEX experiments - currently under development in close collaboration with teams at other universities - are designed to probe detailed physics in the universe when it was much less than one second old. The first QUIET camera, built at Columbia, is currently observing the CMB from 17,000 ft. in the Atacama desert in Chile. The EBEX experiment is currently being integrated at Columbia's Nevis laboratories for it's first flight from a high-altitude balloon in the spring of 2009.

Prof. Miller has also long held an interest in issues on the interface between science and policy. She worked at Princeton University on issues related to satellite verification of nuclear non-proliferation agreements, organized a round table meeting at Columbia with the Union of Concerned Scientists, and has participated in several conferences on science and politics. Prof. Miller developed and piloted a seminar at Columbia entitled "Science, Politics, and Critical Thinking", and taught a lecture course entitled "Weapons of Mass Destruction". She was a Columbia University Committee on Global Thought Fellow, and is currently a Term Member on the Council on Foreign Relations. Prof. Miller is also currently consulting as the Chief Science Advisor to the NYPD Counterterrorism Bureau.

Current Experiments

Technology Development

Completed Experiments

More Information

Teaching

Past Courses

Current Courses (Spring 2008)