Spider Optimization II: Optical, Magnetic and Foreground Effects
arXiv:1102.0559 · doi:10.1088/0004-637X/738/1/63
Abstract
Spider is a balloon-borne instrument designed to map the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) with degree-scale resolution over a large fraction of the sky. Spider's main goal is to measure the amplitude of primordial gravitational waves through their imprint on the polarization of the CMB if the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r, is greater than 0.03. To achieve this goal, instrumental systematic errors must be controlled with unprecedented accuracy. Here, we build on previous work to use simulations of Spider observations to examine the impact of several systematic effects that have been characterized through testing and modeling of various instrument components. In particular, we investigate the impact of the non-ideal spectral response of the half-wave plates, coupling between focal plane components and the Earth's magnetic field, and beam mismatches and asymmetries. We also present a model of diffuse polarized foreground emission based on a three-dimensional model of the Galactic magnetic field and dust, and study the interaction of this foreground emission with our observation strategy and instrumental effects. We find that the expected level of foreground and systematic contamination is sufficiently low for Spider to achieve its science goals.
submitted to APJ, 15 pages, 12 figures
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Cited by in corpus (11)
- The Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE): A Nulling Polarimeter for Cosmic Microwave Background Observations
- SPIDER: Probing the Early Universe with a Suborbital Polarimeter
- Performance of a continuously rotating half-wave plate on the POLARBEAR telescope
- A New Limit on CMB Circular Polarization from SPIDER
- Empirical modelling of the BLASTPol achromatic half-wave plate for precision submillimetre polarimetry
- Measuring our Peculiar Velocity by "Pre-deboosting" the CMB
- A cryogenic rotation stage with a large clear aperture for the half-wave plates in the Spider instrument
- Pre-flight integration and characterization of the SPIDER balloon-borne telescope
- 280 GHz Focal Plane Unit Design and Characterization for the SPIDER-2 Suborbital Polarimeter
- Design and construction of a carbon fiber gondola for the SPIDER balloon-borne telescope
- Modeling optical systematics for the Taurus CMB experiment