Related papers: Calibration System with Cryogenically-Cooled Loads…

Precise polarisation measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) require accurate knowledge of the instrument orientation relative to the sky frame used to define the cosmological Stokes parameters. Suitable celestial calibration…

In this paper we present the design and measured performance of a novel cryogenic motor based on a superconducting magnetic bearing (SMB). The motor is tailored for use in millimeter-wave half-wave plate (HWP) polarimeters, where a HWP is…

We present the design and characterization of the POLARBEAR experiment. POLARBEAR will measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) on angular scales ranging from the experiment's 3.5 arcminute beam size to several…

(Abridged) Despite the great success of precision cosmology, cosmologists cannot fully explain the initial conditions of the Universe. Inflation, an exponential expansion in the first 10^-36s, is a promising potential explanation. A generic…

Recent measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background $B$-mode polarization power spectrum by the BICEP2 and POLARBEAR experiments have demonstrated new precision tools for probing fundamental physics. Regardless of origin, the fact that…

We present the design and validation of a variable temperature cryogenic blackbody source, hereinafter called a cold load, that will be used to characterize detectors to be deployed by CMB-S4, the next-generation ground-based cosmic…

Polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) can help probe the fundamental physics behind cosmic inflation via the measurement of primordial $B$ modes. As this requires exquisite control over instrumental systematics, some…

Cosmic Microwave Background experiments need to measure polarization properties of the incoming radiation very accurately to achieve their scientific goals. As a result of that, it is necessary to properly characterize these instruments.…

We present a measurement of the $B$-mode polarization power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) using taken from July 2014 to December 2016 with the POLARBEAR experiment. The CMB power spectra are measured using observations…

The polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)is a powerful observational tool at hand for modern cosmology. It allows to break the degeneracy of fundamental cosmological parameters one cannot obtain using only anisotropy data…

A new method for absolute polarimetric calibration of large telescopes is presented. The proposed method is highly accurate and is based on the calibration of a small sub-aperture, which is then extended to the full system by means of…

Most cosmic microwave background experiments observe the sky along circular or near-circular scans on the celestial sphere. For such experiments, we show that simple linear systems connect the Fourier spectra of temperature and polarization…

The polarization modes of the cosmological microwave background are an invaluable source of information for cosmology, and a unique window to probe the energy scale of inflation. Extracting such information from microwave surveys requires…

We measure linearly polarized beam patterns for a multi-moded concentrator and compare the results to a simple model based on geometric optics. We convolve the measured co-polar and cross-polar beams with simulated maps of CMB polarization…

The statistics of the temperature anisotropies in the primordial cosmic microwave background radiation field provide a wealth of information for cosmology and for estimating cosmological parameters. An even more acute inference should stem…

We describe the Planck HFI design and expected performances for measuring CMB polarisation.

In this lecture, after a synthetic review of measurements of CMB temperature anisotropies and of their cosmological implications, the theoretical background of CMB polarization is summarized and the concepts of the main experiments that are…

The CMB polarization is the Everest in the quest to characterize the earliest photons from the Universe. After a long list of ever-decreasing upper limits, a detection of polarization was made in 2002 by the DASI team at ell =~ 500. The…

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropies exhibit a large-scale dipolar power asymmetry. To determine whether this is due to a real, physical modulation or is simply a large statistical fluctuation requires the…

A great deal of experimental effort is currently being devoted to the precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) sky in temperature and polarisation. Satellites, balloon-borne, and ground-based experiments scrutinize the…