Detection ofB-Mode Polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background with Data from the South Pole Telescope

AbstractThe South Pole Telescope is a 10 meter telescope optimized for sensitive, high-resolution measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy and millimeter-wavelength sky. In November 2011, the SPT completed the 2500 deg2 SPT-SZ survey. The survey has led to several major cosmological results, derived from measurements of the fine angular scale primary and secondary CMB anisotropies, the discovery of galaxy clusters via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect and the resulting mass-limited cluster catalog, and the discovery of a population of distant, dusty star forming galaxies (DSFGs). In January 2012, the SPT was equipped with a new polarization sensitive camera, SPTpol, which will enable detection of the contribution to the CMB polarization power spectrum from lensing by large scale structure (the so-called “lensing B-modes”) and, on larger angular scales, a detection or improved upper limit on the primordial inflationary signal (“gravitational-wave B-modes”), thereby constraining the energy scale of Inflation. Development is underway for SPT-3G, the third-generation camera for SPT. The SPT-3G survey will cross the threshold from statistical detection of B-mode CMB lensing to imaging the fluctuations at high signal-to-noise; enabling the separation of lensing and inflationary B-modes and improving the constraint on the sum of the neutrino masses Σmν to a level relevant for exploring the neutrino mass hierarchy.

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A MEASUREMENT OF SECONDARY COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND ANISOTROPIES WITH TWO YEARS OF SOUTH POLE TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS

The Astrophysical Journal ◽

10.1088/0004-637x/755/1/70 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 755 (1) ◽

pp. 70 ◽

Cited By ~ 216

Author(s):

C. L. Reichardt ◽

L. Shaw ◽

O. Zahn ◽

K. A. Aird ◽

B. A. Benson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cosmic Microwave Background ◽

South Pole ◽

Microwave Background ◽

South Pole Telescope ◽

Microwave Background Anisotropies

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BICEP: a cosmic microwave background polarization telescope at the South Pole

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s174392131001077x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 5 (H15) ◽

pp. 618-619

Author(s):

Yuki D. Takahashi

Keyword(s):

Cosmic Microwave Background ◽

Gravitational Waves ◽

San Diego ◽

South Pole ◽

Polarization Anisotropy ◽

Atmospheric Conditions ◽

The South ◽

Microwave Background ◽

Cmb Polarization ◽

Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization

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.

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