paper

CMB Polarization Systematics Due to Beam Asymmetry: Impact on Inflationary Science

arXiv:0709.1513 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.77.083003

Abstract

CMB polarization provides a unique window into cosmological inflation; the amplitude of the B-mode polarization from last scattering is uniquely sensitive to the energetics of inflation. However, numerous systematic effects arising from optical imperfections can contaminate the observed B-mode power spectrum. In particular, systematic effects due to the coupling of the underlying temperature and polarization fields with elliptical or otherwise asymmetric beams yield spurious systematic signals. This paper presents a non-perturbative analytic calculation of some of these signals. We show that results previously derived in real space can be generalized, formally, by including infinitely many higher-order corrections to the leading order effects. These corrections can be summed and represented as analytic functions when a fully Fourier-space approach is adopted from the outset. The formalism and results presented in this paper were created to determine the susceptibility of CMB polarization probes of the primary gravitational wave signal but can be easily extended to the analysis of gravitational lensing of the CMB.

14 pages, 11 figures, 6 tables. Minor corrections included to match published version

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