DOCSLIB.ORG

French Roadmap for Cosmic Microwave Background Science

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
French Roadmap for Cosmic Microwave Background Science French roadmap for Cosmic Microwave Background science June 2016 The front cover image illustrates our view of the observable Universe in the millimetre range. The colours indicate the intensity variations, while the lines give the direction of polarization. The inner sphere corresponds to emission from our Galaxy, while the outer sphere corresponds to the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) signal, the most remote light we can ever measure. The CMB can be interrogated so as to reveal the physical conditions in the primordial Universe, symbolised here by the white outer shell. The central question mark represents the assessment presented in this document on how the polarized sky will be mined for cosmological content, and whether France will be part of such a quest. The image of the back cover illustrates the intensity part of the observable Universe emissions in the millime- tre range as mapped by the Planck mission facing simulations of the evolution of the large scale distribution of matter. These images under creative commons license were designed and realised with data from ESA and the Planck collaboration by the HFI French outreach group and the Canopée company. ii French roadmap for Cosmic Microwave Background science Executive summary The highly successful Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) mission has now accurately measured more than a million harmonic modes of the CMB sky with a signal-to-noise greater than one, and has com- pletely fulfilled its principal goal of extracting most of the cosmological information contained in the primary CMB anisotropies in temperature (at least within the ΛCDM class of models). Planck has also exceeded its goals and measured the first 100 000 polarized E-modes, and contributed to the measurement of the tens of fainter B-modes now known. The basic ΛCDM model fits all the data, with parameters known at the per cent level. The deviation from scale invariance expected from inflation has been established beyond doubt, and the knowledge of many key parameters have been improved about a hundred-fold, providing precise constraints on a host of possible extensions to the minimal model (e.g., spatial curvature, neutrino properties, primordial non-Gaussianities or isocurvature modes). Fundamental questions however remain, in particular on early universe physics and cosmology. Nevertheless, the CMB will continue to offer arguably the cleanest experimental window on these, through the millions of additional, but weaker, modes remaining to be measured. Indeed, the precision with which the cosmological model can be determined scales with the inverse of the square root of the number of relevant modes. Among other things, the poorly-known polarization B-modes offer the exciting prospect of a first detection of pri- mordial gravitational waves, which would be a key experimental manifestation of quantum gravity. Such a detection is likely to remain completely out of reach of direct gravitational detectors for the foreseeable future. On the late-time cosmology side, another very exciting endeavour is the mapping of the dark matter distribution through its lensing effect on the CMB at higher redshifts than possible by any other methods. In addition to constraints on the evolution of dark energy, or the locus of Galaxy formation, it will tell us about the neutrino sector of particle physics. Additionally, the CMB constraining power on extensions to the basic ΛCDM model will be enormously increased, potentially discovering the failure or limitation of the now standard ΛCDM model; this will also offer a large increase in the leverage of other astrophysical probes such as Euclid and LSST. It should also be noted that the best constraints on distortions of the mean CMB spectrum are still those determined by COBE-FIRAS some twenty years ago, yet it should now be possible to search for these, which must exist at a level well within reach of today’s technology, and to extract the additional information encoded therein, e.g., on the end of the dark ages or the integrated effect from hot and warm matter. With the completion of the Planck project, the French community is now at a crossroad, with demonstrated expertise in all relevant aspects of CMB science and the ability to continue to contribute to this cosmological quest with future experiments; this expertise indeed includes instrument design, assembly, calibration, opera- tions, processing and scientific analysis in all relevant scientific areas. In that context, it is particularly important to emphasize its strong expertise in promising and rapidly developing technologies in cryogeny and detectors, as well as data processing. However, if not preserved through a long-term program of CMB measurements, these key human and technological assets may well disappear and will be very hard to rebuild. In order to propose a roadmap for future CMB measurements, this report reviews the CMB scientific potential and the obstacles, surveys the current landscape and proposes an analysis of current projects. The main conclusions are the following. Space provides a unique environment for CMB measurements by offering freedom from atmospheric fluc- tuations and the lack of transparency caused by the atmosphere at essential frequencies, access to the full sky resulting in no loss of information particularly on large angular scales, long term measurement stability, and exacting control of systematic errors. Given the necessity of space to provide the benign environment from which measurements will allow the extraction of crucial information that cannot be obtained otherwise, the long term priority for the French community is a strong participation in a CORE-like experiment. Such a CMB polarization mission will be proposed by the European community in October 2016 to ESA’s call for opportu- nity for the M5 slot, as an evolution of the previous proposals in L3 and M4. M5 is a priori targeted for a 2030 iii launch, although it might be launched as early as 2026, if the instruments can be ready in time, perhaps within the context of a collaboration with a non-European agency like NASA and/or JAXA. There are two, potentially earlier, smaller scale CMB projects in space which are known to us, LiteBIRD at JAXA, and PIXIE at NASA. LiteBIRD is less powerful and of narrower scientific scope than CORE, but is still technically quite challenging, especially given the cost cap. It should only be considered for substantial participation in the event that CORE is not selected for a phase A study. PIXIE is proposing an interesting experimental alternative with exciting and unique scientific path-finding capabilities regarding CMB spectral distortions. Since it would involve only a relatively small fraction of the French community, participation was considered as highly commendable as a proposed mission of opportunity. Any space project will give results in more than 10 years from now, even including the LiteBIRD and PIXIE projects which are not firmly selected yet. All new data and progress in this field in the next decade will there- fore come exclusively from the ground and balloons. This exclusive phase will then be followed by a synergy phase between space and ground where the data sets will be complementary in order to cover (optimistically) the full sky at the required frequencies at high angular resolution. To preserve and leverage its expertise, as well as to benefit fully from lessons to be learned in the coming decade, the French community must therefore strongly participate in the suborbital effort. Following the classification of our US colleagues, the CMB ground-based experimental path may be de- scribed in a series of stages, with stage-three currently beginning to deploy on the ground of the order of 10 000 detectors to map portions of the sky. This will be followed by a stage-four targeting of the order of 500 000 detectors to observe from the ground an increasing fraction of the sky. Perhaps optimistically, and depending on funding, those experiments which are part of stage-four may start to operate after around 2020. These plans set the stage for any French effort on the ground in the coming years, which would best be framed within a joint European effort. Of course European ambitions on the ground will take into account the fate of the M5 proposal to scope it, but, in any case, direct participation is vitally needed and activities in that direction need to be vigorously pursued. Shorter term projects have been analysed within this global M5/S4 framework. In particular, we note the scientific promise of the proposed B-SIDE balloon-borne experiment that is com- petitively positioned to reveal crucial information on the detrimental effects of dust polarization and its com- plexities on CMB B-mode experiments, provided it can be flown before 2020. In addition to this niche, B-SIDE also offers a proving ground in real conditions for KIDS detectors, a most promising technology, expertise in which constitutes a significant French asset both for the long term highest priority projects M5 and S4. The ground project QUBIC proposes an innovative way to control low-level polarization systematics. The project has to demonstrate rapidly the validity of its instrumental concept on the sky in order to be a possible stepping stone towards participation in the S4 effort. To achieve this, the current schedule has to be strictly adhered to in order to demonstrate nominal sensitivity and systematics control on the sky by the end of 2018. The QUBIC collaboration and funding bodies should therefore make clear decisions urgently. In any case, the suborbital effort in France and Europe has now to change gears. Indeed, while the CMB future is bright, it may very well turn out to be rather bleak in France barring fast actions from the community and its funding agencies. iv Contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Current status...........................................3 1.2 The French community......................................4 2 Scientific potential of CMB measurements5 2.1 The early universe.........................................5 2.2 The spectral distortions......................................9 2.3 Constraining the matter content of the universe........................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Analysis and Measurement of Horn Antennas for CMB Experiments
    Analysis and Measurement of Horn Antennas for CMB Experiments Ian Mc Auley (M.Sc. B.Sc.) A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Maynooth University Department of Experimental Physics, Maynooth University, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland. October 2015 Head of Department Professor J.A. Murphy Research Supervisor Professor J.A. Murphy Abstract In this thesis the author's work on the computational modelling and the experimental measurement of millimetre and sub-millimetre wave horn antennas for Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments is presented. This computational work particularly concerns the analysis of the multimode channels of the High Frequency Instrument (HFI) of the European Space Agency (ESA) Planck satellite using mode matching techniques to model their farfield beam patterns. To undertake this analysis the existing in-house software was upgraded to address issues associated with the stability of the simulations and to introduce additional functionality through the application of Single Value Decomposition in order to recover the true hybrid eigenfields for complex corrugated waveguide and horn structures. The farfield beam patterns of the two highest frequency channels of HFI (857 GHz and 545 GHz) were computed at a large number of spot frequencies across their operational bands in order to extract the broadband beams. The attributes of the multimode nature of these channels are discussed including the number of propagating modes as a function of frequency. A detailed analysis of the possible effects of manufacturing tolerances of the long corrugated triple horn structures on the farfield beam patterns of the 857 GHz horn antennas is described in the context of the higher than expected sidelobe levels detected in some of the 857 GHz channels during flight.
    [Show full text]
  • La Radiación Del Fondo Cósmico De Microondas Abstracts
    Simposio Internacional: La radiación del Fondo Cósmico de Microondas: mensajera de los orígenes del universo International Symposium: CMB Radiation: Messenger of the Origins of Our Universe Madrid, 6 de noviembre de 2014 Madrid, November 6, 2014 I The seeds of structure: A view of the Cosmic Microwave Background, Joseph Silk The shape of the universe as seen by Planck, Enrique Martínez-González Deciphering the beginnings of the universe with CMB polarization, Matías Zaldarriaga 30 years of Cosmic Microwave Background experiments in Tenerife: From temperature to polarization maps, Rafael Rebolo Cosmology from Planck: Do we need a new Physics?, Nazzareno Mandolesi FUNDACIÓN RAMÓN ARECES Simposio Internacional: La radiación del Fondo Cósmico de Microondas: mensajera de los orígenes del universo International Symposium: CMB Radiation: Messenger of the Origins of Our Universe Madrid, 6 de noviembre de 2014 Madrid, November 6, 2014 The seeds of structure: A view of the Cosmic Microwave Background, Joseph Silk One of our greatest challenges is understanding the origin of the structure of the universe.I will describe how the fossil radiation from the beginning of the universe, the cosmic microwave background, has provided a window for probing the initial conditions from which structure evolved. Infinitesimal variations in temperature on the sky, first discovered in 1992, provide the fossil fluctuations that seeded the formation of the galaxies. The cosmic microwave background radiation has now been mapped with ground-based, balloon-borne and satellite telescopes. These provide the basis for our current ``precision cosmology'' in which the universe not only contains Dark Matter but also ``DarkEnergy'', which has accelerated its expansion exponentially in the last 4 billion years.
    [Show full text]
  • A Bayesian Method for Point Source Polarisation Estimation D
    A&A 651, A24 (2021) Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202039741 & c ESO 2021 Astrophysics A Bayesian method for point source polarisation estimation D. Herranz1, F. Argüeso2,4, L. Toffolatti3,4, A. Manjón-García1,5, and M. López-Caniego6 1 Instituto de Física de Cantabria, CSIC-UC, Av. de Los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain e-mail: [email protected] 2 Departamento de Matemáticas, Universidad de Oviedo, C. Federico García Lorca 18, 33007 Oviedo, Spain 3 Departamento de Física, Universidad de Oviedo, C. Federico García Lorca 18, 33007 Oviedo, Spain 4 Instituto Universitario de Ciencias y Tecnologías Espaciales de Asturias (ICTEA), Escuela de Ingeniería de Minas, Materiales y Energía de Oviedo, C. Independencia 13, 33004 Oviedo, Spain 5 Departamento de Física Moderna, Universidad de Cantabria, 39005 Santander, Spain 6 ESAC, Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, 28692 Villafranca del Castillo, Madrid, Spain Received 22 October 2020 / Accepted 2 March 2021 ABSTRACT The estimation of the polarisation P of extragalactic compact sources in cosmic microwave background (CMB) images is a very important task in order to clean these images for cosmological purposes –for example, to constrain the tensor-to-scalar ratio of primordial fluctuations during inflation– and also to obtain relevant astrophysical information about the compact sources themselves in a frequency range, ν ∼ 10–200 GHz, where observations have only very recently started to become available. In this paper, we propose a Bayesian maximum a posteriori approach estimation scheme which incorporates prior information about the distribution of the polarisation fraction of extragalactic compact sources between 1 and 100 GHz.
    [Show full text]
  • The Design of the Ali CMB Polarization Telescope Receiver
    The design of the Ali CMB Polarization Telescope receiver M. Salatinoa,b, J.E. Austermannc, K.L. Thompsona,b, P.A.R. Aded, X. Baia,b, J.A. Beallc, D.T. Beckerc, Y. Caie, Z. Changf, D. Cheng, P. Chenh, J. Connorsc,i, J. Delabrouillej,k,e, B. Doberc, S.M. Duffc, G. Gaof, S. Ghoshe, R.C. Givhana,b, G.C. Hiltonc, B. Hul, J. Hubmayrc, E.D. Karpela,b, C.-L. Kuoa,b, H. Lif, M. Lie, S.-Y. Lif, X. Lif, Y. Lif, M. Linkc, H. Liuf,m, L. Liug, Y. Liuf, F. Luf, X. Luf, T. Lukasc, J.A.B. Matesc, J. Mathewsonn, P. Mauskopfn, J. Meinken, J.A. Montana-Lopeza,b, J. Mooren, J. Shif, A.K. Sinclairn, R. Stephensonn, W. Sunh, Y.-H. Tsengh, C. Tuckerd, J.N. Ullomc, L.R. Valec, J. van Lanenc, M.R. Vissersc, S. Walkerc,i, B. Wange, G. Wangf, J. Wango, E. Weeksn, D. Wuf, Y.-H. Wua,b, J. Xial, H. Xuf, J. Yaoo, Y. Yaog, K.W. Yoona,b, B. Yueg, H. Zhaif, A. Zhangf, Laiyu Zhangf, Le Zhango,p, P. Zhango, T. Zhangf, Xinmin Zhangf, Yifei Zhangf, Yongjie Zhangf, G.-B. Zhaog, and W. Zhaoe aStanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA bKavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford, CA 94305, USA cNational Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA dCardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA, United Kingdom eUniversity of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026 fInstitute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 gNational Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012 hNational Taiwan University, Taipei 10617 iUniversity of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA jIN2P3, CNRS, Laboratoire APC, Universit´ede Paris, 75013 Paris, France kIRFU, CEA, Universit´eParis-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France lBeijing Normal University, Beijing 100875 mAnhui University, Hefei 230039 nArizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85004, USA oShanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 pSun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai 519082 ABSTRACT Ali CMB Polarization Telescope (AliCPT-1) is the first CMB degree-scale polarimeter to be deployed on the Tibetan plateau at 5,250 m above sea level.
    [Show full text]
  • Rhodri Evans
    Rhodri Evans The Cosmic Microwave Background How It Changed Our Understanding of the Universe Astronomers’ Universe More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/6960 Rhodri Evans The Cosmic Microwave Background How It Changed Our Understanding of the Universe 123 Rhodri Evans School of Physics & Astronomy Cardiff University Cardiff United Kingdom ISSN 1614-659X ISSN 2197-6651 (electronic) ISBN 978-3-319-09927-9 ISBN 978-3-319-09928-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-09928-6 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: : 2014957530 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding Cosmic Acceleration: Connecting Theory and Observation
    Understanding Cosmic Acceleration V(!) ! E Hivon Hiranya Peiris Hubble Fellow/ Enrico Fermi Fellow University of Chicago #OMPOSITIONOFAND+ECosmic HistoryY%VENTS$ UR/ INGTHE%CosmicVOLUTIONOFTHE5 MysteryNIVERSE presentpresent energy energy Y density "7totTOT = 1(k=0)K density DAR RADIATION KENER dark energy YDENSIT DARK G (73%) DARKMATTER Y G ENERGY dark matter DARK MA(23.6%)TTER TIONOFENER WHITEWELLUNDERSTOOD DARKNESSPROPORTIONALTOPOORUNDERSTANDING BARYONS BARbaryonsYONS AC (4.4%) FR !42 !33 !22 !16 !12 Fractional Energy Density 10 s 10 s 10 s 10 s 10 s 1 sec 380 kyr 14 Gyr ~1015 GeV SCALEFACTimeTOR ~1 MeV ~0.2 MeV 4IME TS TS TS TS TS TSEC TKYR T'YR Y Y Planck GUT Y T=100 TeV nucleosynthesis Y IES TION TS EOUT DIAL ORS TIONS G TION TION Z T Energy THESIS symmetry (ILC XA 100) MA EN EE WNOF ESTHESIS V IMOR GENERATEOBSERVABLE IT OR ELER ALTHEOR TIONS EF SIGNATURESINTHE#-" EAKSYMMETR EIONIZA INOFR Y% OMBINA R E6 EAKDO #X ONASYMMETR SIC W '54SYMMETR IMELINEOF EFFWR Y Y EC TUR O NUCLEOSYN ), * +E R 4 PLANCKENER Generation BR TR TURBA UC PH Cosmic Microwave NEUTR OUSTICOSCILLA BAR TIONOFPR ER A AC STR of primordial ELEC non-linear growth of P 44 LIMITOFACC Background Emitted perturbations perturbations: GENER ES carries signature of signature on CMB TUR GENERATIONOFGRAVITYWAVES INITIALDENSITYPERTURBATIONS acoustic#-"%MITT oscillationsED NON LINEARSTR andUCTUR EIMPARTS #!0-!0OBSERVES#-" ANDINITIALDENSITYPERTURBATIONS GROWIMPARTINGFLUCTUATIONS CARIESSIGNATUREOFACOUSTIC SIGNATUREON#-"THROUGH *throughEFFWRITESUPANDGR weakADUATES WHICHSEEDSTRUCTUREFORMATION
    [Show full text]
  • The QUIJOTE CMB Experiment: Status and First Results with the Multi-Frequency Instrument
    The QUIJOTE CMB Experiment: status and first results with the multi-frequency instrument M. L´opez-Caniegoa, R. Rebolob;c;h, M. Aguiarb, R. G´enova-Santosb;c, F. G´omez-Re~nascob, C. Gutierrezb, J.M. Herrerosb, R.J. Hoylandb, C. L´opez-Caraballob;c, A.E. Pelaez Santosb;c, F. Poidevinb, J.A. Rubi~no-Mart´ınb;c, V. Sanchez de la Rosab, D. Tramonteb, A. Vega-Morenob, T. Viera-Curbelob, R. Vignagab, E. Mart´ınez-Gonzaleza, R.B. Barreiroa, B. Casaponsa a, F.J. Casasa, J.M. Diegoa, R. Fern´andez-Cobosa, D. Herranza, D. Ortiza, P. Vielvaa, E. Artald, B. Ajad, J. Cagigasd, J.L. Canod, L. de la Fuented, A. Mediavillad, J.V. Ter´and, E. Villad, L. Piccirilloe, R. Battyee, E. Blackhurste, M. Browne, R.D. Daviese, R.J. Davise, C. Dickinsone, K. Graingef , S. Harpere, B. Maffeie, M. McCulloche, S. Melhuishe, G. Pisanoe, R.A. Watsone, M. Hobsonf , A. Lasenbyf;g, R. Saundersf , and P. Scottf aInstituto de F´ısica de Cantabria, CSIC-UC, Avda. los Castros, s/n, E-39005 Santander, Spain bInstituto de Astrof´ısica de Canarias, C/Via Lactea s/n, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain cDepartamento de Astrof´ısica, Universidad de La Laguna, E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain dDepartamento de Ingenier´ıade COMunicaciones (DICOM), Laboratorios de I+D de Telecomunicaciones, Plaza de la Ciencia s/n, E-39005 Santander, Spain eJodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester, Oxford Rd, Manchester M13 9PL, UK f Astrophysics Group, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK gKavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA hConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Cient´ıficas, Spain arXiv:1401.4690v2 [astro-ph.IM] 5 Feb 2014 The QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint Tenerife) CMB Experiment is designed to observe the polar- ization of the Cosmic Microwave Background and other Galactic and extragalactic signals at medium and large angular scales in the frequency range of 10{40 GHz.
    [Show full text]
  • 1St Edition of Brown Physics Imagine, 2017-2018
    A note from the chair... "Fellow Travelers" Ladd Observatory.......................11 Sci-Toons....................................12 Faculty News.................. 15-16, 23 At-A-Glance................................18 s the current academic year draws to an end, I’m happy to report that the Physics Department has had Newton's Apple Tree................. 23 an exciting and productive year. At this year's Commencement, the department awarded thirty five "Untagling the Fabric of the undergraduate degrees (ScB and AB), twenty two Master’s degrees, and ten Ph.D. degrees. It is always Agratifying for me to congratulate our graduates and meet their families at the graduation ceremony. This Universe," Professor Jim Gates..26 Alumni News............................. 27 year, the University also awarded my colleague, Professor J. Michael Kosterlitz, an honorary degree for his Events this year......................... 28 achievement in the research of low-dimensional phase transitions. Well deserved, Michael! Remembering Charles Elbaum, Our faculty and students continue to generate cutting-edge scholarships. Some of their exciting Professor Emeritus.................... 29 research are highlighted in this magazine and have been published in high impact journals. I encourage you to learn about these and future works by watching the department YouTube channel or reading faculty’s original publications. Because of their excellent work, many of our undergraduate and graduate students have received students prestigious awards both from Brown and externally. As Chair, I feel proud every time I hear good news from our On the cover: PhD student Shayan Lame students, ranging from receiving the NSF Graduate Fellowship to a successful defense of thier senior thesis or a Class of 2018.............................
    [Show full text]
  • Calibration of a Polarimetric Microwave Radiometer Using a Double Directional Coupler
    remote sensing Article Calibration of a Polarimetric Microwave Radiometer Using a Double Directional Coupler Luisa de la Fuente 1,* , Beatriz Aja 1 , Enrique Villa 2 and Eduardo Artal 1 1 Departamento de Ingeniería de Comunicaciones, Universidad de Cantabria, 39005 Santander, Spain; [email protected] (B.A.); [email protected] (E.A.) 2 IACTEC, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, 38205 La Laguna, Spain; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: This paper presents a built-in calibration procedure of a 10-to-20 GHz polarimeter aimed at measuring the I, Q, U Stokes parameters of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. A full-band square waveguide double directional coupler, mounted in the antenna-feed system, is used to inject differently polarized reference waves. A brief description of the polarimetric microwave radiometer and the system calibration injector is also reported. A fully polarimetric calibration is also possible using the designed double directional coupler, although the presented calibration method in this paper is proposed to obtain three of the four Stokes parameters with the introduced microwave receiver, since V parameter is expected to be zero for the CMB radiation. Experimental results are presented for linearly polarized input waves in order to validate the built-in calibration system. Keywords: radiometer; polarimeter calibration; microwave polarimeter; radiometer calibration; radio astronomy receiver; cosmic microwave background receiver; Stokes parameters Citation: de la Fuente, L.; Aja, B.; Villa, E.; Artal, E. Calibration of a 1. Introduction Polarimetric Microwave Radiometer Remote sensing applications employ sensitive instruments to fulfill the scientific goals Using a Double Directional Coupler. of dedicated missions or projects, either space or terrestrial.
    [Show full text]
  • Wide-Survey of the QUIJOTE CMB Experiment Presented By: Federica Guidi (IAC, ULL), on Behalf of the QUIJOTE Collaboration
    Wide-survey of the QUIJOTE CMB experiment Presented by: Federica Guidi (IAC, ULL), on behalf of the QUIJOTE collaboration. I present the status and the recent results of the QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife) experiment. QUIJOTE is a project that operates from the Teide Observatory, with the aim to characterize the emission of the galactic foregrounds at microwave wavelengths, and to study the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background, targeting the detection of the primordial gravitational waves, the so called ”B-modes”, down to a value of the tensor to scalar ratio of r = 0.05. Recently, one of the two instruments of QUIJOTE, the Multi Frequency Instrument (MFI), concluded a wide-survey campaign, during which we observed the full northern sky, at 11, 13, 17 and 19 GHz. The wide survey maps of QUIJOTE will be delivered soon to the community. Here I present the current status of the maps, and I summarize few scientific results related to them, with special emphasis on the low frequency Galactic foregrounds, such as the Synchrotron and the Anomalous Microwave Emission. XIV.0 Reunión Científica 13-15 julio 2020 Context of the research: QUIJOTE: a polarimetric CMB experiment for the characterization of the low frequency galactic foregrounds ● CMB polarization experiments are searching for the polarization pattern imprinted by primordial gravitational waves: the “B-modes”. ● QUIJOTE is a polarimetric CMB experiment installed at the Teide observatory since 2012. ● QUIJOTE extends the Planck and WMAP coverage to low frequency, with two instruments: ○ Multi Frequency Instrument (MFI): 11, 13, 17, 19 GHz; ○ Thirty and Forty GHz Instrument (TFGI): Q Q Q Q J J 30-40 GHz.
    [Show full text]
  • The QUIJOTE Experiment: Project Overview and First Results
    Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics VIII, Proceedings of the XI Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society held on September 8–12, 2014, in Teruel, Spain. A. J. Cenarro, F. Figueras, C. Hernández-Monteagudo, J. Trujillo Bueno, and L. Valdivielso (eds.) The QUIJOTE experiment: project overview and first results R. G´enova-Santos1;6, J. A. Rubi~no-Mart´ın1;6, R. Rebolo1;6;7, M. Aguiar1, F. G´omez-Re~nasco1, C. Guti´errez1;6, R. J. Hoyland1, C. L´opez-Caraballo1;6;8, A. E. Pel´aez-Santos1;6, M. R. P´erez-de-Taoro1, F. Poidevin1;6 , V. S´anchez de la Rosa1, D. Tramonte1;6, A. Vega-Moreno1, T. Viera-Curbelo1, R. Vignaga1;6, E. Mart´ınez-Gonz´alez2, R. B. Barreiro2, B. Casaponsa2, F. J. Casas2, J. M. Diego2, R. Fern´andez-Cobos2, D. Herranz2, M. L´opez-Caniego2, D. Ortiz2, P. Vielva2, E. Artal3, B. Aja3, J. Cagigas3, J. L. Cano3, L. de la Fuente3, A. Mediavilla3, J. V. Ter´an3, E. Villa3, L. Piccirillo4, R. Davies4, R. J. Davis4, C. Dickinson4, K. Grainge4, S. Harper4, B. Maffei4, M. McCulloch4, S. Melhuish4, G. Pisano4, R. A. Watson4, A. Lasenby5;9, M. Ashdown5;9, M. Hobson5, Y. Perrott5, N. Razavi-Ghods5, R. Saunders6, D. Titterington6 and P. Scott6 1 Instituto de Astrofis´ıcade Canarias, 38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain 2 Instituto de F´ısicade Cantabria (CSIC-Universidad de Cantabria), Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain 3 Departamento de Ingenieria de COMunicaciones (DICOM), Laboratorios de I+D de Telecomunicaciones, Universidad de Cantabria, Plaza de la Ciencia s/n, E-39005 Santander, Spain 4 Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Alan Turing Building, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, U.K 5 Astrophysics Group, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, J.J.
    [Show full text]
  • The EBEX Balloon Borne Experiment-Optics, Receiver, and Polarimetry
    The EBEX Balloon Borne Experiment - Optics, Receiver, and Polarimetry The EBEX Collaboration: Asad M. Aboobaker1, Peter Ade2, Derek Araujo3, Fran¸cois Aubin4, Carlo Baccigalupi5;6, Chaoyun Bao4, Daniel Chapman3, Joy Didier3, Matt Dobbs7;8, Christopher Geach4, Will Grainger9, Shaul Hanany4;∗, Kyle Helson10, Seth Hillbrand3, Johannes Hubmayr11, Andrew Jaffe12, Bradley Johnson3, Terry Jones4, Jeff Klein4, Andrei Korotkov10, Adrian Lee13, Lorne Levinson14, Michele Limon3, Kevin MacDermid7, Tomotake Matsumura4;15, Amber D. Miller3, Michael Milligan4, Kate Raach4, Britt Reichborn-Kjennerud3, Ilan Sagiv14, Giorgio Savini16, Locke Spencer2;17, Carole Tucker2, Gregory S. Tucker10, Benjamin Westbrook11, Karl Young4, Kyle Zilic4 ABSTRACT The E and B Experiment (EBEX) was a long-duration balloon-borne cosmic mi- crowave background polarimeter that flew over Antarctica in 2013. We describe the experiment's optical system, receiver, and polarimetric approach, and report on their in-flight performance. EBEX had three frequency bands centered on 150, 250, and 1Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109 2School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 3AA, United Kingdom 3Physics Department, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 4University of Minnesota School of Physics and Astronomy, Minneapolis, MN 55455 5Astrophysics Sector, SISSA, Trieste, 34014, Italy 6INFN, Sezione di Trieste, Via Valerio 2, I-34127 Trieste, Italy 7McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2T8, Canada 8Canadian Institute for
    [Show full text]