Polarization Calibration of the BICEP3 CMB polarimeter at the South Pole
J. Cornelison, P. A. R. Ade, Z. Ahmed, M. Amiri, D. Barkats, R. Basu Thakur, C. A. Bischoff, J. J. Bock, H. Boenish, E. Bullock, V. Buza, J. R. Cheshire, J. Con… 展开作者
J. Cornelison, P. A. R. Ade, Z. Ahmed, M. Amiri, D. Barkats, R. Basu Thakur, C. A. Bischoff, J. J. Bock, H. Boenish, E. Bullock, V. Buza, J. R. Cheshire, J. Connors, M. Crumrine, A. Cukierman, E. Denison, M. Dierickx, L. Duband, M. Eiben, S. Fatigoni, J. P. Filippini, S. Fliescher, N. Goeckner-Wald, D. C. Goldfinger, J. A. Grayson, P. Grimes, G. Hall, M. Halpern, S. A. Harrison, S. Henderson, S. R. Hildebrandt, G. C. Hilton, J. Hubmayr, H. Hui, K. D. Irwin, J. Kang, K. S. Karkare, E. Karpel, S. Kefeli, S. A. Kernasovskiy, J. M. Kovac, C. L. Kuo, K. Lau, E. M. Leitch, K. G. Megerian, L. Minutolo, L. Moncelsi, Y. Nakato, T. Namikawa, H. T. Nguyen, R. O'Brient, R. W. Ogburn, S. Palladino, N. Precup, T. Prouve, C. Pryke, B. Racine, C. D. Reintsema, S. Richter, A. Schillaci, B. L. Schmitt, R. Schwarz, C. D. Sheehy, A. Soliman, T. St. Germaine, B. Steinbach, R. V. Sudiwala, G. P. Teply, K. L. Thompson, J. E. Tolan, C. Tucker, A. D. Turner, C. Umiltà, A. G. Vieregg, A. Wandui, A. C. Weber, D. V. Wiebe, J. Willmert, C. L. Wong, W. L. K. Wu, E. Yang, K. W. Yoon, E. Young, C. Yu, L. Zeng, C. Zhang, S. Zhang
The BICEP3 CMB Polarimeter is a small-aperture refracting telescope located at the South Pole and is specifically designed to search for the possible signature of inflationary gravitational waves in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The experiment measures polarization on the sky by differencing the signal of co-located, orthogonally polarized antennas coupled to Transition Edge Sensor (TES) detectors. We present precise measurements of the absolute polarization response angles and polarization efficiencies for nearly all of BICEP3s $\sim800$ functioning polarization-sensitive detector pairs from calibration data taken in January 2018. Using a Rotating Polarized Source (RPS), we mapped polarization response for each detector over a full 360 degrees of source rotation and at multiple telescope boresight rotations from which per-pair polarization properties were estimated. In future work, these results will be used to constrain signals predicted by exotic physical models such as Cosmic Birefringence.
We present a novel system to calibrate millimeter-wave polarimeters for CMB polarization measurements. This technique is an extension of the conventional metal mirror rotation approach, however it employs cryogenically-cooled blackbody absorbers. The primary advantage of this system is that it can generate a slightly polarized signal ($\sim100$ mK) in the laboratory; this is at a similar level to that measured by ground-based CMB polarization experiments observing a $\sim$ 10 K sky. It is important to reproduce the observing condition in the laboratry for reliable characterization of polarimet…
Several on-going and future experiments use a Stokes polarimeter (i.e. a rotating wave plate followed by a steady polarizer and by an unpolarized detector) to measure the small polarized component of the Cosmic Microwave Background. The expected signal is typically evaluated using the Mueller formalism. In this work we carry-out the signal evaluation taking into account the temperatures of the different optical devices present in the instrument, their non- idealities, multiple internal reflections, and reflections between different optical components. This analysis, which exploits a new descri…
The Wide-Area Linear Optical Polarimeter (WALOP)-South instrument is an upcoming wide-field and high-accuracy optical polarimeter to be used as a survey instrument for carrying out the Polar-Areas Stellar Imaging in Polarization High Accuracy Experiment (PASIPHAE) program. Designed to operate as a one-shot four-channel and four-camera imaging polarimeter, it will have a field of view of $35\times 35$ arcminutes and will measure the Stokes parameters $I$, $q$, and $u$ in a single exposure in the SDSS-r broadband filter. The design goal for the instrument is to achieve an overall polarimetric me…
We present the design and the preliminary on sky performance with respect to beams and pass-bands of a multichroic polarimeter array covering the 90 and 146 GHz Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) bands and its enabling broadband optical system recently deployed on the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). The constituent pixels are feedhorn-coupled multichroic polarimeters fabricated at NIST. This array is coupled to the ACT telescope via a set of three silicon lenses incorporating novel broad-band metamaterial anti-reflection coatings. This receiver represents the first multichroic detector array…
B-modes are special patterns in cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization. The detection of them is a smoking-gun signature of primordial gravitational waves. The generic strategy of the CMB polarization experiments is to employ a large number of polarimeters for improving the statistics. The Q/U Imaging ExperimenT-II (QUIET-II) has been proposed to detect the B-modes using the world's largest coherent polarimeter array (2,000 channels). An unique detection technique using QUIET's polarimeters, which is a modula- tion/demodulation scheme, enables us directly extracting the polarization si…
This paper presents a polarization calibration method applied to a microwave polarimeter demonstrator based on a near-infrared (NIR) frequency up-conversion stage that allows both optical correlation and signal detection at a wavelength of 1550 nm. The instrument was designed to measure the polarization of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation from the sky, obtaining the Stokes parameters of the incoming signal simultaneously, in a frequency range from 10 to 20 GHz. A linearly polarized input signal with a variable polarization angle is used as excitation in the polarimeter calibration s…
Multi-chroic polarization sensitive detectors offer an avenue to increase both the spectral coverage and sensitivity of instruments optimized for observations of the cosmic-microwave background (CMB) or sub-mm sky. We report on an effort to adapt the Truce Collaboration horn coupled bolometric polarimeters for operation over octave bandwidth. Development is focused on detectors operating in both the 90 and 150 GHz bands which offer the highest CMB polarization to foreground ratio. We plan to deploy an array of 256 multi-chroic 90/150 GHz polarimeters with 1024 TES detectors on ACTPol in 2013, …
The SPTpol camera is a dichroic polarimetric receiver at 90 and 150 GHz. Deployed in January 2012 on the South Pole Telescope (SPT), SPTpol is looking for faint polarization signals in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The camera consists of 180 individual Transition Edge Sensor (TES) polarimeters at 90 GHz and seven 84-polarimeter camera modules (a total of 588 polarimeters) at 150 GHz. We present the design, dark characterization, and in-lab optical properties of the 150 GHz camera modules. The modules consist of photolithographed arrays of TES polarimeters coupled to silicon platelet a…
Most upcoming CMB experiments are planning to deploy between a few thousand and a few hundred thousand TES bolometers in order to drastically increase sensitivity and unveil the B-mode signal. Differential systematic effects and $1/f$ noise are two of the challenges that need to be overcome in order to achieve this result. In recent years, rotating Half-Wave Plates have become increasingly more popular as a solution to mitigate these effects, especially for those experiments that are targeting the largest angular scales. However, other effects may appear when a rotating HWP is being employed. …
WALOP (Wide-Area Linear Optical Polarimeter)-South, to be mounted on the 1m SAAO telescope in South Africa, is first of the two WALOP instruments currently under development for carrying out the PASIPHAE survey. Scheduled for commissioning in the year 2021, the WALOP instruments will be used to measure the linear polarization of around $10^{6}$ stars in the SDSS-r broadband with $0.1~\%$ polarimetric accuracy, covering 4000 square degrees in the Galactic polar regions. The combined capabilities of one-shot linear polarimetry, high polarimetric accuracy ($< 0.1~\%$) and polarimetric sensitivity…
The Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE) is an Explorer-class mission concept to measure the gravitational-wave signature of primordial inflation through its distinctive imprint on the linear polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Its optical system couples a polarizing Fourier transform spectrometer to the sky to measure the differential signal between orthogonal linear polarization states from two co-pointed beams on the sky. The double differential nature of the four-port measurement mitigates beam-related systematic errors common to the two-port systems used in most CMB me…
The WALOP-South instrument will be mounted on the 1 m SAAO telescope in South Africa as part of the PASIPHAE program to carry out a linear imaging polarization survey of the Galactic polar regions in the optical band. Designed to achieve polarimetric sensitivity of $0.05~\%$ across a $35\times35$ arcminute field of view, it will be capable of measuring the Stokes parameters I, q and u in a single exposure in the SDSS-r broadband and narrowband filters between $0.5~μm - 0.7~μm$. For each measurement, four images of the full field corresponding to linear polarization angles of 0 deg, 45 deg, 90 …
The Keck Array (SPUD) is a set of microwave polarimeters that observes from the South Pole at degree angular scales in search of a signature of Inflation imprinted as B-mode polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The first three Keck Array receivers were deployed during the 2010-2011 Austral summer, followed by two new receivers in the 2011-2012 summer season, completing the full five-receiver array. All five receivers are currently observing at 150 GHz. The Keck Array employs the field-proven BICEP/BICEP2 strategy of using small, cold, on-axis refractive optics, providing exce…
Precision measurements of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, especially experiments seeking to detect the odd-parity "B-modes", have far-reaching implications for cosmology. To detect the B-modes generated during inflation the Flux response and polarization angle of these experiments must be calibrated to exquisite precision. While suitable flux calibration sources abound, polarization angle calibrators are deficient in many respects. Man-made polarized sources are often not located in the antenna's far-field, have spectral properties that are radically differ…
Precise polarisation measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) require accurate knowledge of the instrument orientation relative to the sky frame used to define the cosmological Stokes parameters. Suitable celestial calibration sources that could be used to measure the polarimeter orientation angle are limited, so current experiments commonly `self-calibrate.' The self-calibration method exploits the theoretical fact that the $EB$ and $TB$ cross-spectra of the CMB vanish in the standard cosmological model, so any detected $EB$ and $TB$ signals must be due to systematic errors. Howe…
Multichroic polarization sensitive detectors enable increased sensitivity and spectral coverage for observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). An array optimized for dual frequency detectors can provide 1.7 times gain in sensitivity compared to a single frequency array. We present the design and measurements of horn coupled multichroic polarimeters encompassing the 90 and 150 GHz frequency bands and discuss our plans to field an array of these detectors as part of the ACTPol project.
The Keck Array is a cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarimeter that will begin observing from the South Pole in late 2010. The initial deployment will consist of three telescopes similar to BICEP2 housed in ultra-compact, pulse tube cooled cryostats. Two more receivers will be added the following year. In these proceedings we report on the design and performance of the Keck cryostat. We also report some initial results on the performance of antenna-coupled TES detectors operating in the presence of a pulse tube. We find that the performance of the detectors is not seriously impacted by the …
The quest for primordial gravitational waves enclosed in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization B-modes signal motivates the development of a new generation of high sensitive experiments (e.g. CMB-S4, LiteBIRD) that would allow them to detect its imprint.Neverthless, this will be only possible by ensuring a high control of the instrumental systematic effects and an accurate absolute calibration of the polarization angle. The Crab nebula is known to be a polarization calibrator on the sky for CMB experiments, already used for the Planck satellite it exhibits a high polarized signal …
Spider is a balloon-borne array of six telescopes that will observe the Cosmic Microwave Background. The 2400 antenna-coupled bolometers in the instrument will make a polarization map of the CMB with ~degree resolution at 150 GHz and 95 GHz. Polarization modulation is achieved via a cryogenic sapphire half-wave plate (HWP) skyward of the primary optic. In this thesis, the design, construction, and lab testing of the HWP system are discussed. The polarization modulation of these optical stacks is modeled using a physical optics calculation and Mueller matrices. Performance tests in both the lab…
We describe a low-cost, open-access, CubeSat-based calibration instrument that is designed to support ground-based and sub-orbital experiments searching for various polarization signals in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). All modern CMB polarization experiments require a robust calibration program that will allow the effects of instrument-induced signals to be mitigated during data analysis. A bright, compact, and linearly polarized astrophysical source with polarization properties known to adequate precision does not exist. Therefore, we designed a space-based millimeter-wave calibratio…
Sub-Kelvin Cryogenics for a Super-Pressure Balloon-Borne CMB Polarimeter: Taurus
Case Western Reserve University（凯斯西储大学）；University of California, Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）；Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory（劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室）；National Institute of Standards and Technology（美国国家标准与技术研究院）；Princeton University（普林斯顿大学）；University of Colorado Boulder（科罗拉多大学博尔德分校）；University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign（伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校）；University of Iceland（冰岛大学）；Stockholm University（斯德哥尔摩大学）
WALOP-South: a four camera one shot imaging polarimeter for the PASIPHAE survey. Paper III -- PSF modelling
School for Physical Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research（国家科学教育与研究大学物理科学学院）；Homi Bhabha National Institute（霍米·巴巴国家研究所）；Astrophysics division, National Center for Nuclear Research（国家核研究中心天体物理学部）；Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics（大学间天文学与天体物理学中心）；South African Astronomical Observatory（南非天文台）；Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院凯尔天体物理学中心）；Institute of Astrophysics, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas（希腊基础研究与技术基金会天体物理研究所）；Steward Observatory, University of Arizona（亚利桑那大学斯图尔德天文台）
We describe SPIDER, a balloon-borne instrument to map the polarization of the millimeter-wave sky with degree angular resolution. Spider consists of six monochromatic refracting telescopes, each illuminating a focal plane of large-format antenna-coupled bolometer arrays. A total of 2,624 superconducting transition-edge sensors are distributed among three observing bands centered at 90, 150, and 280 GHz. A cold half-wave plate at the aperture of each telescope modulates the polarization of incoming light to control systematics. Spider's first flight will be a 20-30-day Antarctic balloon campaig…
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) experiment aims to map the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at angular scales larger than a few degrees. Operating from Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert of Chile, it will observe over 65% of the sky at 38, 93, 148, and 217 GHz. In this paper we discuss the design, construction, and characterization of the CLASS 38 GHz detector focal plane, the first ever Q-band bolometric polarimeter array.
BICEP3 is a small-aperture refracting cosmic microwave background (CMB) telescope designed to make sensitive polarization maps in pursuit of a potential B-mode signal from inflationary gravitational waves. It is the latest in the BICEP/Keck Array series of CMB experiments at the South Pole, which has provided the most stringent constraints on inflation to date. For the 2016 observing season, BICEP3 was outfitted with a full suite of 2400 optically coupled detectors operating at 95 GHz. In these proceedings we report on the far field beam performance using calibration data taken during the 2015…
Recent measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background $B$-mode polarization power spectrum by the BICEP2 and POLARBEAR experiments have demonstrated new precision tools for probing fundamental physics. Regardless of origin, the fact that we can detect sub-$μ$K CMB polarization represents a tremendous technological breakthrough. Yet more information may be latent in the CMB's polarization pattern. Because of its tensorial nature, CMB polarization may also reveal parity-violating physics via a detection of cosmic polarization rotation. Although current CMB polarimeters are sensitive enough to m…
We extend a general maximum likelihood foreground estimation for cosmic microwave background polarization data to include estimation of instrumental systematic effects. We focus on two particular effects: frequency band measurement uncertainty, and instrumentally induced frequency dependent polarization rotation. We assess the bias induced on the estimation of the $B$-mode polarization signal by these two systematic effects in the presence of instrumental noise and uncertainties in the polarization and spectral index of Galactic dust. Degeneracies between uncertainties in the band and polariza…
BICEP Array is the newest multi-frequency instrument in the BICEP/Keck Array program. It is comprised of four 550 mm aperture refractive telescopes observing the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at 30/40, 95, 150 and 220/270 GHz with over 30,000 detectors. We present an overview of the receiver, detailing the optics, thermal, mechanical, and magnetic shielding design. BICEP Array follows BICEP3's modular focal plane concept, and upgrades to 6" wafer to reduce fabrication with higher detector count per module. The first receiver at 30/40 GHz is expected to start observing a…
The B-Machine Telescope is the culmination of several years of development, construction, characterization and observation. The telescope is a departure from standard polarization chopping of correlation receivers to a half wave plate technique. Typical polarimeters use a correlation receiver to chop the polarization signal to overcome the $1/f$ noise inherent in HEMT amplifiers. B-Machine uses a room temperature half wave plate technology to chop between polarization states and measure the polarization signature of the CMB. The telescope has a demodulated $1/f$ knee of 5 mHz and an average se…
We report on the design and performance of the BICEP3 instrument and its first three-year data set collected from 2016 to 2018. BICEP3 is a 52cm aperture, refracting telescope designed to observe the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) on degree angular scales at 95GHz. It started science observation at the South Pole in 2016 with 2400 antenna-coupled transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers. The receiver first demonstrated new technologies such as large-diameter alumina optics, Zotefoam infrared filters, and flux-activated SQUIDs, allowing $\sim 10\times$ higher optical throu…
The Atacama B-mode Search (ABS) experiment is a 145 GHz polarimeter designed to measure the B-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at large angular scales. The ABS instrument will ship to the Atacama Desert of Chile fully tested and ready to observe in 2010. ABS will image large-angular-scale CMB polarization anisotropies onto a focal plane of 240 feedhorn-coupled, transition-edge sensor (TES) polarimeters, using a cryogenic crossed-Dragone design. The ABS detectors, which are fabricated at NIST, use orthomode transducers to couple orthogonal polarizations of incoming rad…
We present a characterization of CasPol, a dual-beam polarimeter mounted at the 2.15 meter Jorge Sahade Telescope, located at the Complejo Astronómico El Leoncito, Argentina. The telescope is one of the few available meter-sized optical telescopes located in the Southern Hemisphere hosting a polarimeter. To carry out this work we collected photo-polarimetric data along five observing campaigns, the first one during January, 2014, and the remaining ones spread between August, 2017 and March, 2018. The data were taken through the Johnson-Cousins V, R and I filters. Along the campaigns, we observ…
The BICEP3 Polarimeter is a small aperture, refracting telescope, dedicated to the observation of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at 95GHz. It is designed to target degree angular scale polarization patterns, in particular the very-much-sought-after primordial B-mode signal, which is a unique signature of cosmic inflation. The polarized signal from the sky is reconstructed by differencing co-localized, orthogonally polarized superconducting Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers. In this work, we present absolute measurements of the polarization response of the detectors for more than $…
The BICEP/Keck experiment (BK) is a series of small-aperture refracting telescopes observing degree-scale Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization from the South Pole in search of a primordial $B$-mode signature. This $B$-mode signal arises from primordial gravitational waves interacting with the CMB, and has amplitude parametrized by the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$. Since 2016, BICEP3 and the Keck Array have been observing with 4800 total antenna-coupled transition-edge sensor detectors, with frequency bands spanning 95, 150, 220, and 270 GHz. Here we present the optical performance of t…
Constraining the Galactic foregrounds with multi-frequency Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations is an essential step towards ultimately reaching the sensitivity to measure primordial gravitational waves (PGWs), the sign of inflation after the Big-Bang that would be imprinted on the CMB. The BICEP Array telescope is a set of multi-frequency cameras designed to constrain the energy scale of inflation through CMB B-mode searches while also controlling the polarized galactic foregrounds. The lowest frequency BICEP Array receiver (BA1) has been observing from the South Pole since 2020 and…
Destriping is a well-established technique for removing low-frequency correlated noise from Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) survey data. In this paper we present a destriping algorithm tailored to data from a polarimeter, i.e. an instrument where each channel independently measures the polarization of the input signal. We also describe a fully parallel implementation in Python released as Free Software and analyze its results and performance on simulated datasets, both the design case of signal and correlated noise, and with additional systematic effects. Finally we apply the algorithm to 30…
In January 2012, the 10m South Pole Telescope (SPT) was equipped with a polarization-sensitive camera, SPTpol, in order to measure the polarization anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Measurements of the polarization of the CMB at small angular scales (~several arcminutes) can detect the gravitational lensing of the CMB by large scale structure and constrain the sum of the neutrino masses. At large angular scales (~few degrees) CMB measurements can constrain the energy scale of Inflation. SPTpol is a two-color mm-wave camera that consists of 180 polarimeters at 90 GHz and 588 …
Overview and status of BICEP Array's BA4-90/150 CMB polarimeter
Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian（天体物理中心，哈佛与史密森尼学会）；School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University（卡迪夫大学物理与天文学院）；Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University（斯坦福大学卡弗里粒子天体物理学与宇宙学研究所）；SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory（SLAC国家加速器实验室）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia（不列颠哥伦比亚大学物理与天文系）；Department of Physics, California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院物理系）；Department of Physics, University of Cincinnati（辛辛那提大学物理系）；Department of Physics, Stanford University（斯坦福大学物理系）；Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院喷气推进实验室）；Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago（芝加哥大学卡弗里宇宙物理学研究所）；National Institute of Standards and Technology（美国国家标准与技术研究院）；High-Energy Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory（阿贡国家实验室高能物理部）；School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota（明尼苏达大学物理与天文学院）；Service des Basses Températures, Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique（低温服务处，法国原子能与替代能源委员会）；Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Iceland（冰岛大学理学院）；Department of Physics, Harvard University（哈佛大学物理系）；Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign（伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校物理系）；Centre for Theoretical Cosmology, DAMTP, University of Cambridge（剑桥大学DAMTP理论宇宙学中心）；Kavli Institute for Cosmology Cambridge（卡弗里剑桥宇宙学研究所）；Department of Physics, Boston University（波士顿大学物理系）；Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, University of Minnesota（明尼苏达大学明尼苏达天体物理研究所）
We describe the High-Precision Polarimetric Instrument-2 (HIPPI-2) a highly versatile stellar polarimeter developed at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Two copies of HIPPI-2 have been built and used on the 60-cm telescope at Western Sydney University's (WSU) Penrith Observatory, the 8.1-m Gemini North Telescope at Mauna Kea and extensively on the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT). The precision of polarimetry, measured from repeat observations of bright stars in the SDSS g' band, is better than 3.5 ppm (parts per million) on the 3.9-m AAT and better than 11 ppm on the 60-cm WSU t…
We present the results of a feasibility study, which examined deployment of a ground-based millimeter-wave polarimeter, tailored for observing the cosmic microwave background (CMB), to Isi Station in Greenland. The instrument for this study is based on lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors (LEKIDs) and an F/2.4 catoptric, crossed-Dragone telescope with a 500 mm aperture. The telescope is mounted inside the receiver and cooled to $<\,4$ K by a closed-cycle $^4$He refrigerator to reduce background loading on the detectors. Linearly polarized signals from the sky are modulated with a metal-…
Optical characterization of the BICEP array 150 and 220/270GHz CMB polarimeters in the 2026 season
Boston University（波士顿大学）；Cardiff University（卡迪夫大学）；SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory（斯坦福直线加速器中心）；Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University（斯坦福大学卡弗里粒子天体物理与宇宙学研究所）；University of British Columbia（不列颠哥伦比亚大学）；Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian（哈佛史密森尼天体物理中心）；California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）；University of Cincinnati（辛辛那提大学）；Stanford University（斯坦福大学）；Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院喷气推进实验室）；Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago（芝加哥大学卡弗里宇宙物理学研究所）；National Institute of Standards and Technology（美国国家标准与技术研究院）；Argonne National Laboratory, High Energy Physics Division（阿贡国家实验室高能物理部）；University of Minnesota（明尼苏达大学）；Service des Basses Temperatures, Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique（法国原子能委员会低温服务处）；University of Iceland（冰岛大学）；Harvard University（哈佛大学）；Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign（伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校格兰杰工程学院）；Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, University of Minnesota（明尼苏达大学明尼苏达天体物理研究所）
A detection of curl-type ($B$-mode) polarization of the primary CMB would be direct evidence for the inflationary paradigm of the origin of the Universe. The BICEP/Keck Array (BK) program targets the degree angular scales, where the power from primordial $B$-mode polarization is expected to peak, with ever-increasing sensitivity and has published the most stringent constraints on inflation to date. BICEP Array (BA) is the Stage-3 instrument of the BK program and will comprise four BICEP3-class receivers observing at 30/40, 95, 150 and 220/270 GHz with a combined 32,000+ detectors; such wide fr…
The search for the B-mode polarization of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is the new frontier of observational Cosmology. A B-mode detection would give an ultimate confirmation to the existence of a primordial Gravitational Wave (GW) background as predicted in the inflationary scenario. Several experiments have been designed or planned to observe B-modes. In this work we focus on the forthcoming Large Scale Polarization Explorer (LSPE) experiment, that will be devoted to the accurate measurement of CMB polarization at large angular scales. LSPE consists of a balloon-borne bolometric instrume…
Detecting B-mode polarization anisotropies on large angular scales in the CMB polarization pattern is one of the major challenges in modern observational cosmology since it would give us an important evidence in favor of the inflationary paradigm and would shed light on the physics of the very early Universe. Multi-frequency observations are required to disentangle the very weak CMB signal from diffuse polarized foregrounds originating by radiative processes in our galaxy. The "Large Scale Polarization Explorer" (LSPE) is an experiment that aims to constrain the ratio between the amplitudes of…
BICEP3 is a $550~mm$ aperture telescope with cold, on-axis, refractive optics designed to observe at the $95~GHz$ band from the South Pole. It is the newest member of the BICEP/Keck family of inflationary probes specifically designed to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at degree-angular scales. BICEP3 is designed to house 1280 dual-polarization pixels, which, when fully-populated, totals to $\sim$9$\times$ the number of pixels in a single Keck $95~GHz$ receiver, thus further advancing the BICEP/Keck program's $95~GHz$ mapping speed. BICEP3 was deployed during t…
Circular polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) offers the possibility of detecting rotations of the universe and magnetic fields in the primeval universe or in distant clusters of galaxies. We used the Milano Polarimeter (MIPOL) installed at the Testa Grigia Observatory, on the italian Alps, to improve the existing upper limits to the CMB circular polarization at large angular scales. We obtain 95% confidence level upper limits to the degree of the CMB circular polarization ranging between 5.0x10^{-4} and 0.7x10^{-4} at angular scales between 8 and 24 deg, improving by one orde…
BICEP3 is a 520 mm aperture on-axis refracting telescope at the South Pole, which observes the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at 95 GHz to search for the B-mode signal from inflationary gravitational waves. In addition to this main target, we have developed a low-elevation observation strategy to extend coverage of the Southern sky at the South Pole, where BICEP3 can quickly achieve degree-scale E-mode measurements over a large area. An interesting E-mode measurement is probing a potential polarization anomaly around the CMB Cold Spot. During the austral summer seasons o…
SOUTH POL will be a survey of the Southern sky in optical polarized light. It will use a newly designed polarimetric module at an 80cm Robotic Telescope. Telescope and polarimeter will be installed at CTIO, Chile, in late 2012. The initial goal is to cover the sky south of declination -15° in two years of observing time, aiming at a polarimetric accuracy \lesssim 0.1% down to V=15, with a camera covering a field of about 2.0 square degrees. SOUTH POL will impact areas such as Cosmology, Extragalactic Astronomy, Interstellar Medium of the Galaxy and Magellanic Clouds, Star Formation, Stellar En…
We describe the design and performance of polarization selective antenna-coupled TES arrays that will be used in several upcoming Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments: SPIDER, BICEP-2/SPUD. The fully lithographic polarimeter arrays utilize planar phased-antennas for collimation (F/4 beam) and microstrip filters for band definition (25% bandwidth). These devices demonstrate high optical efficiency, excellent beam shapes, and well-defined spectral bands. The dual-polarization antennas provide well-matched beams and low cross polarization response, both important for high-fidelity polari…
The SPTpol camera is a two-color, polarization-sensitive bolometer receiver, and was installed on the 10 meter South Pole Telescope in January 2012. SPTpol is designed to study the faint polarization signals in the Cosmic Microwave Background, with two primary scientific goals. One is to constrain the tensor-to-scalar ratio of perturbations in the primordial plasma, and thus constrain the space of permissible inflationary models. The other is to measure the weak lensing effect of large-scale structure on CMB polarization, which can be used to constrain the sum of neutrino masses as well as oth…
We discuss the design and expected performance of STRIP (STRatospheric Italian Polarimeter), an array of coherent receivers designed to fly on board the LSPE (Large Scale Polarization Explorer) balloon experiment. The STRIP focal plane array comprises 49 elements in Q band and 7 elements in W-band using cryogenic HEMT low noise amplifiers and high performance waveguide components. In operation, the array will be cooled to 20 K and placed in the focal plane of a $\sim 0.6$ meter telescope providing an angular resolution of $\sim1.5$ degrees. The LSPE experiment aims at large scale, high sensiti…
The cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) is now firmly established as a fundamental and essential probe of the geometry, constituents, and birth of the Universe. The CMB is a potent observable because it can be measured with precision and accuracy. Just as importantly, theoretical models of the Universe can predict the characteristics of the CMB to high accuracy, and those predictions can be directly compared to observations. There are multiple aspects associated with making a precise measurement. In this review, we focus on optical components for the instrumentation used to measure the…
BICEP/Keck XXII: Analysis of the South Pole Atmosphere for CMB Observations
Cardiff University（卡迪夫大学）；Stanford University（斯坦福大学）；SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory（SLAC国家加速器实验室）；University of British Columbia（不列颠哥伦比亚大学）；Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian（哈佛与史密森尼天体物理中心）；University of New Mexico（新墨西哥大学）；California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）；University of Cincinnati（辛辛那提大学）；Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院喷气推进实验室）；University of Chicago（芝加哥大学）
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol) is a polarization sensitive upgrade to the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. Located at an elevation of 5190 m, ACTPol measures the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature and polarization with arcminute-scale angular resolution. Calibration of the detector angles is a critical step in producing maps of the CMB polarization. Polarization angle offsets in the detector calibration can cause leakage in polarization from E to B modes and induce a spurious signal in the EB and TB cross correlations, which eliminates our ability to measure potent…
