PROTOCALC, a W-band Polarized Calibrator for Cosmic Microwave Background Telescopes: Application to Simons Observatory and CLASS
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- University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy); Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Milano (Italy)
- University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy)
- Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago (Chile)
- University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Université Paris Cité (France); Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris (France). Astroparticule et Cosmologie (APC)
- University of Texas at Austin, TX (United States); Texas Center for Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (TCCAP), Austin, TX (United States)
- University of Chicago, IL (United States). Kavli Inst. for Cosmological Physics (KICP)
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States)
Current- and next-generation cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments will measure polarization anisotropies with unprecedented sensitivities. The need for high precision in these measurements underscores the importance of gaining a comprehensive understanding of instrument properties, with a particular emphasis on the study of the beam properties, and especially their polarization characteristics and the measurement of the polarization angle. In this context, a major challenge lies in the scarcity of millimeter polarized astrophysical sources with sufficient brightness and calibration knowledge to meet the stringent accuracy requirements of future CMB missions. This led to the development of a drone-borne calibration source designed for the frequency band centered on approximately 90 GHz, matching a commonly used channel in ground-based CMB measurements. The Prototype Calibrator for Cosmology, PROTOCALC, has undergone thorough in-lab testing, and its properties have been subsequently modeled through simulation software integrated into the standard Simons Observatory analysis pipeline. Moreover, the PROTOCALC system has been tested in the field, having been deployed twice on calibration campaigns with CMB telescopes in the Atacama Desert. The data collected constrain the roll angle of the source with a statistical accuracy of 0$$^°_•$$045.
- Research Organization:
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- European Research Council (ERC); National Science Foundation (NSF); Simons Foundation; US Department of Energy; USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP); USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP) (SC-25)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 89243024CSC000002; AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 2538630
- Report Number(s):
- FERMILAB-PUB--25-0095-PPD; arXiv:2502.14473; oai:inspirehep.net:2892380
- Journal Information:
- The Astrophysical Journal. Supplement Series, Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal. Supplement Series Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 279; ISSN 1538-4365; ISSN 0067-0049
- Publisher:
- IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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