Probing the Cosmic Dark Ages with the Lunar Crater Radio Telescope
  The Cosmic Dark Ages represent the period in the early evolution of the
Universe, starting immediately after the decoupling of CMB photons from matter,
and ending with the formation of the first stars and galaxies. The HI signal
from the neutral hydrogen atoms is the only mechanism for us to understand this
crucial phase in the cosmological history of the Universe and answer
fundamental questions about the validity of the standard cosmological model,
dark matter physics, and inflation. Due to cosmological redshift, this signal
is now only observable in the 3-30~MHz frequency band, which is blocked from
reaching the surface of the Earth by the ionosphere. In this paper, we present
the design of the Lunar Crater Radio Telescope that intends to carry out
unprecedented measurements of this signal by deploying a kilometer-sized
parabolic reflector mesh inside a lunar crater on the far side of the Moon and
suspending a receiver at its focus.
