SPIDER OPTIMIZATION. II. OPTICAL, MAGNETIC, AND FOREGROUND EFFECTS

Journal Article · Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/738/1/63· OSTI ID:21582947

O'Dea, D T; Clark, C N; Contaldi, C R ^[1]; Ade, P A. R. ^[2]; Amiri, M; Burger, B; Davis, G ^[3]; Benton, S J ^[4]; Bock, J J; Crill, B P; Dore, O; Filippini, J P ^[5]; Bond, J R; Farhang, M ^[6]; Bonetti, J A ^[7]; Bryan, S ^[8]; Chiang, H C; Fraisse, A A ^[9]; Fissel, L M; Gandilo, N N ^[10]

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1. Theoretical Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London (United Kingdom)
2. School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff (United Kingdom)
3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Canada)
4. Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON (Canada)
5. Department of Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (United States)
6. Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON (Canada)
7. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA (United States)
8. Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (United States)
9. Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (United States)
10. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON (Canada)

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 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.

• OSTI ID: 21582947
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 738, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/738/1/63; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
AMPLITUDES
GALAXIES
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
MAGNETIC FIELDS
OPTIMIZATION
POLARIZATION
RELICT RADIATION
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
MICROWAVE RADIATION
RADIATIONS