Related papers: Variable-delay Polarization Modulators for the CLA…
The angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropy observed by WMAP has an anomalous dip at l~20 and bump at l~40. One explanation for this structure is the presence of features in the primordial curvature…
One of the primary scientific targets of current and future CMB polarization experiments is the search for a stochastic background of gravity waves in the early universe. As instrumental sensitivity improves, the limiting factor will…
We investigate a possible asymmetry in the statistical properties of the cosmic microwave background temperature field and to do so we construct an estimator aiming at detecting a dipolar modulation. Such a modulation is found to induce…
Circular polarization in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) offers a promising probe of the parity-violating physics of the early universe. In this paper, we propose a novel method to constrain the primordial circular polarization of…
[Abridged] The polarization of the CMB is widely recognized as a potential source of information about primordial gravitational waves. The gravitational wave contribution can be separated from the dominant CMB polarization created by…
A tremendous international effort is currently dedicated to observing the so-called primordial B modes of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarisation. If measured, this faint signal imprinted by the primordial gravitational wave…
The polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) can be used to search for parity-violating processes like that predicted by a Chern-Simons coupling to a light pseudoscalar field. Such an interaction rotates $E$ modes into $B$…
A polar-coded modulation scheme for deep-space optical communication is proposed. The photon counting Poisson channel with pulse position modulation (PPM) is considered. We use the fact that PPM is particularly well suited to be used with…
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol) is a polarization sensitive upgrade to the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. Located at an elevation of 5190 m, ACTPol measures the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature and…
We evaluate the modulation of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization using a rapidly-rotating, half-wave plate (HWP) on the Atacama B-Mode Search (ABS). After demodulating the time-ordered-data (TOD), we find a significant reduction…
Primordial B-mode detection is one of the main goals of next-generation cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. Primordial B-modes are a unique signature of primordial gravitational waves (PGWs). However, the gravitational…
In this diploma thesis, the calibration of the vector polarimeter POLIS will be described. The instrument is built by the Kiepenheuer-Institut fuer Sonnenphysik (Freiburg/Germany) in cooperation with the High Altitude Observatory…
An observer in relative motion to the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) rest frame is sensitive to both aberration and Doppler effects. Both effects introduce similar but non-identical off-diagonal couplings in the spherical harmonic…
We estimate the accuracy with which various cosmological parameters can be determined from the CMB temperature and polarization data when various galactic unpolarized and polarized foregrounds are included and marginalized using the…
Polarized Galactic foregrounds are one of the primary sources of systematic error in measurements of the B-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Experiments are becoming increasingly sensitive to complexities in the…
The observation of the polarised emission from the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) from future ground-based and satellite-borne experiments holds the promise of indirectly detecting the elusive signal from primordial tensor fluctuations…
Linear (spectro) polarimetry is usually performed using separate photon flux measurements after spatial or temporal polarization modulation. Such classical polarimeters are limited in sensitivity and accuracy by systematic effects and…
We discuss new techniques and ideas in mm-wave instrumentation that can be used in CMB (Cosmic Microwave background) polarization experiments. Novel techniques in antenna receiver, beam combining and detector systems have resulted in…
The Thomson optical depth from reionization is a limiting factor in measuring the amplitude of primordial fluctuations, and hence in measuring physics that affects the low-redshift amplitude, such as the neutrino masses. Current constraints…
Understanding large-angular-scale galactic foregrounds is crucial for future CMB experiments aiming to detect $B$-mode polarization from primordial gravitational waves. Traditionally, the dust component has been separated using its…