CMB polarimetry with BICEP: instrument characterization, calibration, and performance

Abstract

BICEP is a ground-based millimeter-wave bolometric array designed to target the primordial gravity wave signature on the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at degree angular scales. Currently in its third year of operation at the South Pole, BICEP is measuring the CMB polarization with unprecedented sensitivity at 100 and 150 GHz in the cleanest available 2% of the sky, as well as deriving independent constraints on the diffuse polarized foregrounds with select observations on and off the Galactic plane. Instrument calibrations are discussed in the context of rigorous control of systematic errors, and the performance during the first two years of the experiment is reviewed.

12 pages, 15 figures, updated version of a paper accepted for Millimeter and Submillimeter Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy IV, Proceedings of SPIE, 7020, 2008

References in corpus (4)

• Seven-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation
• Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation
• Benchmark Parameters for CMB Polarization Experiments
• The Robinson Gravitational Wave Background Telescope (BICEP): a bolometric large angular scale CMB polarimeter

Cited by in corpus (7)

• QUBIC: The QU Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology
• The Simons Observatory: gain, bandpass and polarization-angle calibration requirements for B-mode searches
• Scientific verification of Faraday Rotation Modulators: Detection of diffuse polarized Galactic emission
• An efficient phase-shifting scheme for bolometric additive interferometry
• The Simons Observatory: A fully remote controlled calibration system with a sparse wire grid for cosmic microwave background telescopes
• An overview of the current status of CMB observations
• In-flight gain monitoring of SPIDER's transition-edge sensor arrays