BICEP2 and Keck Array operational overview and status of observations

Abstract

The BICEP2 and Keck Array experiments are designed to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) on angular scales of 2-4 degrees (l=50-100). This is the region in which the B-mode signal, a signature prediction of cosmic inflation, is expected to peak. BICEP2 was deployed to the South Pole at the end of 2009 and is in the middle of its third year of observing with 500 polarization-sensitive detectors at 150 GHz. The Keck Array was deployed to the South Pole at the end of 2010, initially with three receivers--each similar to BICEP2. An additional two receivers have been added during the 2011-12 summer. We give an overview of the two experiments, report on substantial gains in the sensitivity of the two experiments after post-deployment optimization, and show preliminary maps of CMB polarization from BICEP2.

Presented at SPIE Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VI, July 6, 2012. To be published in Proceedings of SPIE Volume 8452

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• Thermal Conductivity of Thermally-Isolating Polymeric and Composite Structural Support Materials Between 0.3 and 4 K
• Antenna-coupled TES Bolometer Arrays for BICEP2/Keck and SPIDER
• Optimization and sensitivity of the Keck Array
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• Axions in gravity with torsion
• Forecasting sensitivity on tilt of power spectrum of primordial gravitational waves after Planck satellite
• Detecting Primordial $B$-Modes after Planck
• Optimization and sensitivity of the Keck Array
• Cosmological Probes of Structure Growth and Tests of Gravity
• BICEP3 focal plane design and detector performance
• Optical Characterization of the Keck Array Polarimeter at the South Pole
• The Superhorizon Test of Future B-mode Experiments
• A forecast of the sensitivity on the measurement of the optical depth to reionization with the GroundBIRD experiment