• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.29 no.spc1
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• pp.17-18
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• 1996

COBE's results on the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) is discussed. Some ambiguities in the linear GI cosmic perturbation theory are clarified. The problem of the last scattering surface and the deficiencies of the linear cosmic perturbation theory are mentioned. The possible ways to overcome the theoretical difficulties are discussed also.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.72.2-72.2
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• 2021

Cosmic reionization imprints its history on the sky map of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization. Even though mild, the signature of the reionization history during its early phase (z>15) can also impact the CMB polarization. We forecast the observational capability of the LiteBIRD(Lite(Light) satellite for the studies of B-mode polarization and Inflation from cosmic background Radiation Detection), a truly cosmic-variance limited apparatus. We focus on the capability for such an apparatus to probe the partial optical depth of the CMB photons during z>15. We show that LiteBIRD is able to probe this quantity with a modest to high significance, enabling one to tell how efficient the cosmic reionization and star formation were at z>15.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.67-67
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• 2012

Exploring the distant universe by observing various astronomical objects and extending knowledge on the cosmos by applying human intuition and reasoning to observations are astronomers' professional activity. Astronomers are the people born under a lucky star since this elegant and beautiful job is their the only duty. Being in the 21st century we astronomers now know that galaxies are holding evolving stars and gas, and distribute in the infinite spacetime in an interesting way revealing the secrets of the beginning of the universe. Cosmic structures such as galaxies, large-scale structures, and cosmic microwave background fluctuations are also the tracers of the expansion of space and the invisible components of the energy contents of the universe. Unlike the past century we are in a situation where integral knowledge on various cosmic structures as well as that on a variety of observational and analysis tools are available to everyone and often required for our special mission. However, my experience made me think that accumulating critical questions on nature driven by curiosity is vital for researchers and far more important than absorbing knowledge from others and books. Transforming one's own question marks to acclamation marks is the reward of our life. That is THE fun.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.55-70
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• 2011

Cosmological linear perturbation theory has fundamental importance in securing the current cosmological paradigm by connecting theories with observations. Here we present an explanation of the method used in relativistic cosmological perturbation theory and show the derivation of basic perturbation equations.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.295-297
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• 2004

Observations with EUVE, ROSAT, and BeepoSAX have shown that some clusters of galaxies produce intense EUV emission. These findings have produced considerable interest; over 100 papers have been published on this topic in the refereed literature. A notable suggestion as to the source of this radiation is that it is a 'warm' (106 K) intracluster medium which, if present, would constitute the major baryonic component of the universe. A more recent variation of this theme is that this material is 'warm-hot' intergalactic material condensing onto clusters. Alternatively, inverse Compton scattering of low energy cosmic rays against cosmic microwave background photons has been proposed as the source of this emission. Various origins of these particles have been posited, including an old (${\~}$Giga year) population of cluster cosmic rays; particles associated with relativistic jets in the cluster; and cascading particles produced by shocks from sub-cluster merging. The observational situation has been quite uncertain with many reports of detections which have been subsequently contradicted by analyses carried out by other groups. Evidence supporting a thermal and a non-thermal origin has been reported. The existing EUV, FUV, and optical data will be briefly reviewed and clarified. Direct observational evidence from a number of different satellites now rules out a thermal origin for this radiation. A new examination of subtle details of the EUV data suggests a new source mechanism: inverse Compton scattered emission from secondary electrons in the cluster. This suggestion will be discussed in the context of the data.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.42.2-42.2
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• 2010

The possibility of detection of deviation from Gaussian distribution of primordial perturbations in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) Radiation is very important because it can shed light on how the perturbations were created in the very early universe. We study the effect of the primordal non-Gaussianity on topological observables called Minkowski Functionals, which are functions of the temperature fluctuation field, and show that they carry distinct signatures of different types of non-Gaussianities. Then, we constrain the non-Gaussianity parameters by comparing the theoretical predictions of the Minkowski Functionals with measurements from observational data from WMAP.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.15-39
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• 2014

Polarization is a basic property of light and is fundamentally linked to the internal geometry of a source of radiation. Polarimetry complements photometric, spectroscopic, and imaging analyses of sources of radiation and has made possible multiple astrophysical discoveries. In this article I review (i) the physical basics of polarization: electromagnetic waves, photons, and parameterizations; (ii) astrophysical sources of polarization: scattering, synchrotron radiation, active media, and the Zeeman, Goldreich-Kylafis, and Hanle effects, as well as interactions between polarization and matter (like birefringence, Faraday rotation, or the Chandrasekhar-Fermi effect); (iii) observational methodology: on-sky geometry, influence of atmosphere and instrumental polarization, polarization statistics, and observational techniques for radio, optical, and $X/{\gamma}$ wavelengths; and (iv) science cases for astronomical polarimetry: solar and stellar physics, planetary system bodies, interstellar matter, astrobiology, astronomical masers, pulsars, galactic magnetic fields, gamma-ray bursts, active galactic nuclei, and cosmic microwave background radiation.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.32.1-32.1
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• 2014

Astronomical observations strongly suggest that the expansion rate of our universe is currently under acceleration. The nature of the so-called dark energy causing the acceleration is unknown, and it is one of the fundamental mysteries in the present day theoretical cosmology. Here we briefly review the current state of cosmic dark energy research in both theoretical and observational sides. Constraints on dynamical dark energy models (e.g., w-fluid, quintessence, and modified gravity) with recent observational data from type Ia supernovae, cosmic microwave background radiation, and large-scale structures in the universe indicate a preferred direction toward the simplest ${\Lambda}$CDM world model. We also discuss some issues regarding the early dark energy model and the spherical collapse of matter in the presence of dark energy.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.75-91
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• 2013

We estimate the power spectra of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) temperature anisotropy in localized regions of the sky using the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 7-year data. We find that the north and south hat regions at high Galactic latitude ($|b|{\geq}30^{\circ}C$) show an anomaly in the power spectrum amplitude around the third peak, which is statistically significant up to 3. We try to explain the cause of the observed anomaly by analyzing the low Galactic latitude ($|b|$ < $30^{\circ}C$) regions where the galaxy contamination is expected to be stronger, and the regions weakly or strongly dominated byWMAP instrument noise. We also consider the possible effect of unresolved radio point sources. We find another but less statistically significant anomaly in the low Galactic latitude north and south regions whose behavior is opposite to the one at high latitude. Our analysis shows that the observed north-south anomaly at high latitude becomes weaker on regions with high number of observations (weak instrument noise), suggesting that the anomaly is significant at sky regions that are dominated by the WMAP instrument noise. We have checked that the observed north-south anomaly has weak dependences on the bin-width used in the power spectrum estimation, and on the Galactic latitude cut. We also discuss the possibility that the detected anomaly may hinge on the particular choice of the multipole bin around the third peak. We anticipate that the issue of whether or not the anomaly is intrinsic one or due to WMAP instrument noise will be resolved by the forthcoming Planck data.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.46.2-46.2
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• 2015

Modern methods in determining the value of the Hubble constant are divided into two main ways: the classical distance ladder method and the inverse distance ladder method. The classical distance ladder method is based on Cepheid calibrated Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), which are known as powerful distance indicator. The inverse distance ladder method uses cosmic microwave background radiation, which emitted from the high-z universe, and the cosmological model. Recent estimations of the Hubble constant based on these two methods show a $2{\sim}3{\sigma}$ difference, which called the "Hubble tension". It is currently an issue in the modern cosmology. We have been working on the luminosity calibration of SNe Ia based on the Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB), which is a precise population I distance indicator. We present the TRGB distance estimates of 5 SNe Ia host galaxies with the archival Hubble Space Telescope image data. We derive the mean absolute maximum magnitude of 5 SNe Ia and the value of the Hubble constant. Cosmological implications of our estimate will be discussed.