scholarly journals Approximate likelihood approaches for detecting the influence of primordial gravitational waves in cosmic microwave background polarization

2018 ◽  
Vol 97 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Pan ◽  
Ethan Anderes ◽  
Lloyd Knox
2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 2459-2479 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRIAN G. KEATING ◽  
ALEXANDER G. POLNAREV ◽  
NATHAN J. MILLER ◽  
DEEPAK BASKARAN

We review current observational constraints on the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), with a particular emphasis on detecting the signature of primordial gravitational waves. We present an analytic solution to the Polanarev approximation for CMB polarization produced by primordial gravitational waves. This simplifies the calculation of the curl, or B-mode power spectrum associated with gravitational waves during the epoch of cosmological inflation. We compare our analytic method to existing numerical methods and also make predictions for the sensitivity of upcoming CMB polarization observations to the inflationary gravitational wave background. We show that upcoming experiments should be able either detect the relic gravitational wave background or completely rule out whole classes of inflationary models.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (H15) ◽  
pp. 618-619
Author(s):  
Yuki D. Takahashi

AbstractBicep was a telescope designed to probe the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) for the signature of gravitational waves produced during the epoch of inflation. The instrument was developed by a team of scientists from Caltech/JPL, UC Berkeley, and UC San Diego. It was installed at the South Pole in November 2005 and the CMB observations were conducted from February to November each year with one winter-over scientist responsible for operating and maintaining the instrument. Taking advantage of the excellent atmospheric conditions at the South Pole, we mapped 2% of the sky at 100 and 150 GHz. We completed 3 years of observations from 2006 to 2008, mapping the CMB polarization anisotropy at degree angular scales with unprecedented sensitivity. In 2010, a next generation instrument, Bicep2, will be installed on the existing telescope mount for an even deeper survey.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S288) ◽  
pp. 61-67
Author(s):  
Colin Bischoff ◽  

AbstractThe search for B-mode, or curl-type, polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background is the most promising technique to constrain or detect primordial gravitational waves predicted by the theory of inflation. The Bicep telescope, which observed from the South Pole for three years from 2006 through 2008, is the first experiment specifically designed to target this signal. We review the observational motivations for inflation, the advantages of B-mode observations as a technique for detecting the gravitational wave background, and the design features of Bicep that optimize it for this search. The final analysis of all three seasons of Bicep data is in progress, representing a 50% increase in integration time compared to the result from Chiang et al. (2010). A preview of the three year result includes E-mode and B-mode maps, as well as the projected constraint on r, the tensor-to-scalar ratio.


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