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Kendrick Smith

Portrait de Kendrick Smith
The Daniel Family P. James E. Peebles Chair in Theoretical Physics
Faculty

Area of Research:
Cosmology
Phone: (519) 569-7600 x7571

AFFILIATIONS

University of Waterloo

PhD students who wish to be supervised by Perimeter Institute faculty normally apply through the PSI program. To apply directly to a PhD program, students should submit an application to the Physics and Astronomy Department at the University of Waterloo.

Students interested in pursuing an MSc degree should apply to Perimeter Institute's PSI program.

Research Interests

I am a "data-oriented" cosmologist: my work is a mixture of theoretical physics, phenomenology, computational physics, statistics, and data analysis. I have been a member of several large experiments, including the WMAP and Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) satellites. Most recently, I have joined CHIME, a new experiment in British Columbia which aims to measure the radio sky to orders of magnitude better sensitivity than previous all-sky surveys, with a wide variety of applications. It is the first new Canadian research telescope in several decades.

My best-known work is on CMB data analysis and phenomenology, including a classification of observable signals from self-interactions of the inflaton, and the first detection of gravitational lensing in the CMB. Recently, I have been interested in new data analysis techniques for large scale structure and radio astronomy.

Positions Held

  • 2012-2013: Spitzer Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton University and Faculty, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (joint affiliation)
  • 2009-2012: Spitzer Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton University
  • 2007-2009: STFC Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Cambridge
  • 2002-2007: PhD student, University of Chicago

Awards

  • 2019: I was named a Fellow in the CIFAR program "Gravity & The Extreme Universe"
  • 2019: I was co-awarded (with the rest of the WMAP and Planck teams) the Giuseppe and Vanna Cocconi Prize of the European Physical Society's High Energy Energy and Particle Physics Division.
  • 2018: I was co-awarded (with the rest of the WMAP Science Team) the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, which recognizes physicists who have made ``profound contributions to human knowledge''.
  • 2012: I was co-awarded (with the rest of the WMAP Science Team) the Gruber Cosmology Prize, an international prize given once per year to an individual or team ``whose groundbreaking work provides new models that inspire and enable fundamental shifts in knowledge and culture''.
  • 2009: Spitzer Postdoctoral Fellowship at Princeton University, awarded once per year to ``a top theoretical postdoctoral astronomer''.
  • 2007: STFC (UK Science and Technology Facilities Council) Postdoctoral Fellowship, awarded to twelve recent PhDs (across all scientific fields) to pursue postdoctoral research in the UK.
  • 2006: Bloomenthal Fellowship, awarded once per year to ``the best graduate student in theoretical physics with advanced residency status'' at the University of Chicago.
  • 2002: McCormick Doctoral Fellowship, awarded to ``the highest rated applicants to the Ph.D. program of the Department of Physics'' at the University of Chicago.

Recent Publications

  • CHIMEFRB collaboration, ``CHIME/FRB Detection of Eight New Repeating Fast Radio Burst Sources'', accepted to ApJL.
  • CHIMEFRB collaboration, ``A Second Repeating Fast Radio Burst'', Nature 566 (2019) 235.
  • M. S. Madhavacheril, N. Battaglia, K. M. Smith, J. L. Sievers, ``Cosmology with kSZ: breaking the optical depth degeneracy with Fast Radio Bursts'', accepted to PRD.
  • CHIMEFRB collaboration, ``Detection of Fast Radio Bursts at Radio Frequencies Down to 400 MHz'', Nature 566 (2019) 230.
  • L.~Thiele}, J.~C.~Hill, K.~M.~Smith, ``An Accurate Analytic Model for the Thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich One-Point PDF'', PRD (2019) 99, 103511 (2019).
  • S. C. Hotinli, J. Meyers, N. Dalal, A. H. Jaffe, M. C. Johnson, J. B. Mertens, M. Munchmeyer, K. M. Smith, A. van Engelen, ``Transverse Velocities with the Moving Lens Effect'', PRL (2019) 123, 061301.
  • K. M. Smith, M. S. Madhavacheril, M. Munchmeyer, S. Ferraro, U. Giri, and M. C. Johnson, ``KSZ tomography and the bispectrum'', accepted to PRD.
  • M. Munchmeyer, M. S. Madhavacheril, S. Ferraro, M. C. Johnson, K. M. Smith, ``Constraining local non-Gaussianities with kSZ tomography'', accepted to PRD.
  • Simons Observatory collaboration, "The Simons Observatory: Science goals and forecasts", JCAP (2019) 1902, 056.
  • CHIMEFRB collaboration, ``The CHIME Fast Radio Burst Project: System Overview'', ApJ (2018) 863, 1.
  • S. Ferraro, K. M. Smith, ``Characterizing the Epoch of Reionization with the small-scale CMB: constraints on the optical depth and physical parameters'', Phys. Rev. D 98, 123519 (2018)
  • W. Coulton, R. Armstrong, K. Smith, R. Lupton, D. Spergel, ``Exploring the brighter-fatter effect with the Hyper Suprime-Cam'', ApJ (2018) 155, 6.
  • C. Ng, K. Vanderlinde, A. Paradise, P. Klages, K. Masui, K. Smith, K. Bandura, P. J. Boyle, M. Dobbs, V. Kaspi, A. Renard, J. R. Shaw, I. Stairs, I. Tretyakov, ``CHIME FRB: An application of FFT beamforming for a radio telescope'', URSI GASS 32 (2017).
  • CHIME collaboration, "Limits on the ultra-bright Fast Radio Burst population from the CHIME pathfinder", ApJ (2017) 844, 161.
  • P. Daniel Meerberg, J. Meyers, K. M. Smith, A. van Engelen, "Reconstructing CMB fluctuations and the mean reionization optical depth", PRD 95, 123538 (2017).
  • P. Berger et al, ``Holographic Beam Mapping of the CHIME Pathfinder Array'', Proc. SPIE (2016), 9906.
  • K. M. Smith and S. Ferraro, ``Detecting patchy reionization in the CMB'', PRL 119, 021301 (2017). [ This paper was selected for highlighting on the APS website, http://physics.aps.org ]
  • E. Schaan, S. Ferraro, M. Vargas-Magana, K. M. Smith et al, ``Evidence for the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect with ACTPol and velocity reconstruction from BOSS'', PRD (2016) 93, 082002.
  • L. Boyle, J. Y. Khoo, K. M. Smith, ``Symmetric Satellite Swarms and Choreographic Crystals'', PRL (2016) 116, 015503 (``Editors' Suggestion'').
  • N. Denman et al, ``A GPU-based Correlator X-engine Implemented on the CHIME Pathfinder'', IEEE ASAP 2015.
  • Planck collaboration, ``Planck 2015 results. XVII. Constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity'', arXiv: 1502.01592 [astro-ph], accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
  • Planck collaboration, ``Planck 2015 results. I. Overview of products and scientific results'', arXiv: 1502.01582 [astro-ph], accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
  • L. Boyle, K. M. Smith, C. Dvorkin, N. Turok, ``On testing and extending the inflationary consistency relation for tensor modes'', PRD (2015) 92, 043504.
  • S. Ferraro, K. M. Smith, ``Using Large Scale Structure to Test Multifield Inflation'', PRD (2015) 91, 043506.
  • S. R. Behbahani, M. Mirbabayi, L. Senatore, K. M. Smith, ``New natural shapes of non-Gaussianity from high-derivative interactions and their optimal limits from WMAP 9-year data'', JCAP (2014) 11 035.
  • K. M. Smith, C. Dvorkin, L. Boyle, N. Turok, M. Halpern, G. Hinshaw, B. Gold, ``On quantifying and resolving the BICEP2/Planck tension over gravitational waves'', PRL (2014) 113, 031301 (``Editors' Suggestion'').
  • A. Broderick, C. Pfrommer, E. Puchwein, P. Chang, K. M. Smith, ``Lower Limits upon the Anisotropy of the Extragalactic Gamma-Ray Background implied by the 2FGL and 1FHL Catalogs'', ApJ (2014) 796, 12.
  • Simons Observatory Collaboration, ``The Simons Observatory: Astro2020 Decadal Project Whitepaper'', arXiv: 1907.08284 [astro-ph].
  • A. Josephy et al, ``CHIME/FRB Detection of the Original Repeating Fast Radio Burst Source FRB 121102'', arXiv: 1906.11305.
  • Planck collaboration, ``Planck 2018 results. IX. Constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity'', arXiv: 1905.05697.
  • M. Munchmeyer, K. M. Smith, ``Fast Wiener filtering of CMB maps with Neural Networks'', arXiv: 1905.05846.
  • C. Ng et al, "CHIME FRB: An application of FFT beamforming for a radio telescope", arXiv: 1702.04728 [astro-pg[.
  • K. M. Smith, "New algorithms for radio pulsar search", arXiv: 1610.06831 [astro-ph].
  • K. M. Smith, L. Senatore, M. Zaldarriaga, ``Optimal analysis of the CMB trispectrum'', arXiv: 1502.00635 [astro-ph].
  • J. C. Hill, B. D. Sherwin, K. M. Smith et al, ``The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Measurement of the Thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich One-Point PDF'', arXiv: 1411.8004 [astro-ph]
  • M. Alvarez et al, ``Testing Inflation with Large Scale Structure: Connecting Hopes with Reality'', Proceedings from workshop held at University of Toronto, October 2014.
  • O. Dore et al, "WFIRST Science Investigation Team: Cosmology with the High Latitude Survey, Annual Report 2017".
  • K. N. Abazajian et al, "Neutrino Physics from the Cosmic Microwave Background and Large Scale Structure", Report from the ``Dark Energy and CMB'' working group for the American Physical Society's Division of Particles and Fields long-term planning exercise ("Snowmass").
  • K. N. Abazajian et al, "Inflation Physics from the Cosmic Microwave Background and Large Scale Structure", Report from the ``Dark Energy and CMB'' working group for the American Physical Society's Division of Particles and Fields long-term planning exercise ("Snowmass").

Seminars

  • "CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment", invited conference talk, Kelowna BC.
  • "CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment", astrophysics colloquium, Fermilab.
  • "CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment", astrophysics colloquium, Berkeley.
  • "Cosmology with the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect", invited conference talk, Center for Computational Astronomy, NYC.
  • ``CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment'', invited conference talk, Brookhaven.
  • ``CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment'', invited seminar, Inst1itute for Advanced Study, Princeton.
  • ``CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment'', invited seminar, Center for Computational Astronomy, NYC.
  • ``CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment'', physics colloquium, University of Maryland.
  • ``CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment'', invited seminar, University of Toronto.
  • ``Cosmology with the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect'', invited conference talk, Banff.
  • ``Search algorithms for fast transients'', invited conference talk, Cape Town, South Africa.
  • "Search algorithms for fast transients", invited conference talk, McGill University.
  • "CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment", invited seminar, Brown University.
  • "CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment", invited conference talk, Banff.
  • "CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment", invited seminar, Center for Computational Astronomy, New York.
  • "CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment", invited seminar, Oxford University.
  • "CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment", invited seminar, Jodrell Bank Observatory, UK.
  • "CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment", invited plenary conference talk, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
  • "CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment", physics colloquium, Stony Brook University.
  • "CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment", physics colloquium, University of Guelph.
  • "Transient searches in CHIME and other next-generation radio telescopes", physics colloquium, University of Victoria
  • "Detecting patchy reionization in the CMB", invited conference talk, University of Chicago.
  • "CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment", invited conference talk, Carnegie-Mellon
  • "Detecting patchy reionization in the CMB", invited conference talk, Stony Brook.
  • "CMB lensing overview'', invited conference talk, Berkeley
  • "CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment", invited seminar, University of Washington
  • "CHIME: the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment'', invited seminar, IAS Princeton.
  • "CHIME: forecasts and status update", invited seminar, Munich.
  • "CHIME: forecasts and status update'', invited conference talk, Brookhaven (via skype)
  • "CHIME: forecasts and status update'', invited conference talk, IAS Princeton.
  • "CHIME: forecasts and status update", invited conference talk, Barcelona
  • "Planck constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity and future prospects", invited seminar, Johns Hopkins
  • "Planck constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity and future prospects", invited colloquium, University of Chicago
  • "Planck constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity and future prospects", invited seminar, Stony Brook
  • "Planck constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity and future prospects", invited seminar, Penn State
  • "Planck constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity and future prospects", invited conference talk, Aspen.
  • "Planck constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity and future prospects", invited seminar, Ohio State
  • "Planck constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity and future prospects", invited seminar, CMU.
  • "Planck constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity and future prospects", invited seminar, Princeton.
  • "Planck constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity and future prospects", invited seminar, NYU.
  • "Planck constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity and future prospects", invited conference talk, University of Minnesota.
  • "Primordial non-Gaussianity in the CMB and large-scale structure", invited colloquium, McGill.
  • "Primordial non-Gaussianity in the CMB and large-scale structure", invited seminar, University of Waterloo.
  • "Primordial non-Gaussianity in the CMB and large-scale structure", invited seminar, UBC.
  • "Non-Gaussianity post Planck and BICEP2", invited conference talk, Brookhaven.
  • "Quantum mechanical simulations of inflation", invited conference talk, Princeton.
  • "Quantum mechanical simulations of inflation", invited seminar, University of Toronto.
  • "Primordial non-Gaussianity in the CMB and large-scale structure", invited conference talk, Stanford.
  • PIRSA:17040067, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 14, 2017-04-28, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17040066, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 13, 2017-04-27, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17040065, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 12, 2017-04-26, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17040064, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 11, 2017-04-25, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17040063, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 10, 2017-04-24, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17040062, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 9, 2017-04-21, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17040061, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 8, 2017-04-20, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17040060, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 8, 2017-04-19, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17040059, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 7, 2017-04-18, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17040058, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 6, 2017-04-17, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17040057, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 5, 2017-04-14, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17040056, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 4, 2017-04-13, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17040055, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 3, 2017-04-12, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17040054, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 2, 2017-04-11, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17040053, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith) - Lecture 1, 2017-04-10, PSI 16/17 Explorations in Cosmology (Kendrick Smith)
  • PIRSA:17010076, CHIME: The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment, 2017-01-17, Cosmology & Gravitation
  • PIRSA:16040049, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 15, 2016-04-29, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:16040048, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 14, 2016-04-28, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:16040047, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 13, 2016-04-27, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:16040046, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 12, 2016-04-26, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:16040045, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 11, 2016-04-25, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:16040044, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 10, 2016-04-22, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:16040043, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 9, 2016-04-21, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:16040042, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 8, 2016-04-20, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:16040041, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 7, 2016-04-19, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:16040040, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 6, 2016-04-18, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:16040039, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 5, 2016-04-15, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:16040038, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 4, 2016-04-14, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:16040037, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 3, 2016-04-13, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:16040036, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 2, 2016-04-12, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:16040035, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith - 1, 2016-04-11, PSI 2015/2016 Explorations in Cosmology - Kendrick Smith
  • PIRSA:15060042, Planck Results and Future Prospects in Cosmology, 2015-06-23, Convergence
  • PIRSA:15040043, Explorations in Cosmology-15, 2015-04-24, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15040042, Explorations in Cosmology-14, 2015-04-23, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15040041, Explorations in Cosmology-13, 2015-04-22, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15040040, Explorations in Cosmology-12, 2015-04-21, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15040039, Explorations in Cosmology-11, 2015-04-20, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15040036, Explorations in Cosmology-10, 2015-04-17, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15040035, Explorations in Cosmology-9, 2015-04-16, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15040034, Explorations in Cosmology-8, 2015-04-15, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15040033, Explorations in Cosmology-7, 2015-04-14, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15040032, Explorations in Cosmology-6, 2015-04-13, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15040029, Explorations in Cosmology-5, 2015-04-10, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15040028, Explorations in Cosmology-4, 2015-04-09, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15040027, Explorations in Cosmology-3, 2015-04-08, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15040026, Explorations in Cosmology-2, 2015-04-07, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15040025, Explorations in Cosmology-1, 2015-04-06, Explorations in Cosmology
  • PIRSA:15020120, Kendrick Smith, Perimeter Institute, 2015-02-04, Perimeter Public Lectures
  • PIRSA:14040121, Overview, 2014-04-04, Implications of BICEP2
  • PIRSA:14010111, What"s Happening in Cosmology?, 2014-01-30, PI Day 2014
  • PIRSA:13070001, Primordial non-Gaussianity in the CMB and large-scale structure, 2013-07-08, Cosmological Frontiers in Fundamental Physics 2013
  • PIRSA:13040123, Results and highlights from Planck, 2013-04-16, Cosmology & Gravitation
  • PIRSA:12030106, Constraining the Physics of Inflation, 2012-03-06, Particle Physics
  • PIRSA:12010127, Constraining the Physics of Inflation with the CMB, 2012-01-18, Strong Gravity
  • PIRSA:08030053, Primordial non-Gaussianity: Two "shapes" to look for, 2008-03-10, Origins and Observations of Primodial Non-Gaussianity - 2008