HI intensity mapping with FAST

We discuss the detectability of large-scale HI intensity fluctuations using the FAST telescope. We present forecasts for the accuracy of measuring the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations and constraining the properties of dark energy. The FAST $19$-beam L-band receivers ($1.05$--$1.45$ GHz) can provide constraints on the matter power spectrum and dark energy equation of state parameters ($w_{0},w_{a}$) that are comparable to the BINGO and CHIME experiments. For one year of integration time we find that the optimal survey area is $6000\,{\rm deg}^2$. However, observing with larger frequency coverage at higher redshift ($0.95$--$1.35$ GHz) improves the projected errorbars on the HI power spectrum by more than $2~\sigma$ confidence level. The combined constraints from FAST, CHIME, BINGO and Planck CMB observations can provide reliable, stringent constraints on the dark energy equation of state.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, submitted to "Frontiers in Radio Astronomy and FAST Early Sciences Symposium 2015" conference proceedin

Detection chain and electronic readout of the QUBIC instrument

The Q and U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology (QUBIC) Technical Demonstrator (TD) aiming to shows the feasibility of the combination of interferometry and bolometric detection. The electronic readout system is based on an array of 128 NbSi Transition Edge Sensors cooled at 350mK readout with 128 SQUIDs at 1K controlled and amplified by an Application Specific Integrated Circuit at 40K. This readout design allows a 128:1 Time Domain Multiplexing. We report the design and the performance of the detection chain in this paper. The technological demonstrator unwent a campaign of test in the lab. Evaluation of the QUBIC bolometers and readout electronics includes the measurement of I-V curves, time constant and the Noise Equivalent Power. Currently the mean Noise Equivalent Power is ~ 2 x 10⁻¹⁶ W/√Hz

Detection chain and electronic readout of the QUBIC instrument

The Q and U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology (QUBIC) Technical Demonstrator (TD) aiming to shows the feasibility of the combination of interferometry and bolometric detection. The electronic readout system is based on an array of 128 NbSi Transition Edge Sensors cooled at 350mK readout with 128 SQUIDs at 1K controlled and amplified by an Application Specific Integrated Circuit at 40K. This readout design allows a 128:1 Time Domain Multiplexing. We report the design and the performance of the detection chain in this paper. The technological demonstrator unwent a campaign of test in the lab. Evaluation of the QUBIC bolometers and readout electronics includes the measurement of I-V curves, time constant and the Noise Equivalent Power. Currently the mean Noise Equivalent Power is ~ 2 x 10⁻¹⁶ W/√Hz

Mesure des anisotropies de polarisation du fond diffus cosmologique avec l'interféromètre bolométrique QUBIC

The quest of B-mode polarisation of the cosmic background is one of the scientific priorities of the observational cosmology today. Observing the B-mode would be the most direct way to constrain the period of inflation. The detection of such a weak signal is however a real experimental challenge. In addition to a high statistical sensitivity (huge number of horns and bolometers required), future experiments will need an excellent quality of foreground removal and an unprecedented control of systematics. An important experimental effort aiming at the detection of the B-mode is in progress. The QUBIC instrument is one of the many experiments dedicated to the search of B-mode, it is based on a novel technology: bolometric interferometry. In this thesis, we explain the design of this instrument and we describe the different components. We will focus on the optical beam combiner, we will present a method which allows to study the effects of optical aberrations and of misalignments of the components of the combiner on the global sensitivity of the instrument. We will develop a new specific procedure of calibration: the self-calibration, specific to bolometric interferometry, which is based on the redundancy of baselines. The self-calibration relies on comparing all the redundant baselines with each others and permits to calibrate parameters that characterize completely the instrument at the same time for each channel. Finally, we will present the latest results of the simulation for the map-making with the instrument QUBIC and the estimation of the power spectra from the resulting maps.La quête des modes B de polarisation du fond diffus cosmologique est aujourd'hui un des enjeux scientifiques majeurs de la cosmologie observationnelle. Observer les modes B constituerait une sonde directe de la période d'inflation. La détection de ce signal, attendu à un niveau très faible, représente un défi technologique. Il nécessite non seulement une sensibilité importante, mais aussi une soustraction des signaux d'avant-plans et un très bon contrôle des effets systématiques. Dans ce but, un important travail expérimental est en cours. L'instrument QUBIC est une des expériences dédiées à la détection des modes B. Il est basé sur une technologie novatrice : l'interférométrie bolométrique, qui permet de réunir les avantages d'un imageur en terme de sensibilité et ceux d'un interféromètre en terme de contrôle des effets systématiques. Dans ce manuscrit, nous expliquerons le concept de l'instrument et nous décrirons ses composantes. Nous nous concentrerons sur le combineur optique de l'instrument dont nous expliciterons le rôle et nous présenterons une méthode développée afin d'étudier l'impact des aberrations optiques et des désalignements des composantes du combineur sur la sensibilité globale de l'instrument. Nous introduirons une procédure de calibration spécifique à l'interférométrie bolométrique basée sur la redondance des lignes de base : la self-calibration. Cette méthode permet de calibrer les paramètres qui caractérisent complètement l'instrument simultanément et pour chaque canal cornet-bolomètre-pointage. Finalement, nous présenterons les dernières avancées des simulations sur la fabrication des cartes avec l'instrument QUBIC et sur l'estimation des spectres de puissance

QUBIC-the Q & U bolometric interferometer for cosmology

QUBIC (Q and U bolometric interferometer for cosmology) is an international ground-based experiment dedicated to the measurement of the polarized fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). It is based on bolometric interferometry, an original detection technique which combines the immunity to systematic effects of an interferometer with the sensitivity of low temperature incoherent detectors. QUBIC will be deployed in Argentina, at the Alto Chorrillos mountain site near San Antonio de los Cobres, in the Salta province. The QUBIC detection chain consists of 2048 NbSi transition edge sensors (TESs) cooled to 320 mK. The voltage-biased TESs are read out with time domain multiplexing based on superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) at 1 K and a novel SiGe application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) at 60 K allowing an unprecedented multiplexing (MUX) factor equal to 128 to be reached. The current QUBIC version is based on a reduced number of detectors (1/4) in order to validate the detection technique. The QUBIC experiment is currently being validated in the lab in Salta (Argentina) before going to the site for observations. This paper presents the main results of the characterization phase with a focus on the detectors and readout system

Thermal architecture for the QUBIC cryogenic receiver

QUBIC, the QU Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology, is a novel forthcoming instrument to measure the B-mode polarization anisotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background. The detection of the B-mode signal will be extremely challenging; QUBIC has been designed to address this with a novel approach, namely bolometric interferometry. The receiver cryostat is exceptionally large and cools complex optical and detector stages to 40 K, 4 K, 1 K and 350 mK using two pulse tube coolers, a novel 4He sorption cooler and a double-stage 3He/4He sorption cooler. We discuss the thermal and mechanical design of the cryostat, modelling and thermal analysis, and laboratory cryogenic testing

Simulations and performance of the QUBIC optical beam combiner

QUBIC, the Q & U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology, is a novel ground-based instrument that aims to measure the extremely faint B-mode polarisation anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background at intermediate angular scales (multipoles o

Performance of NbSi transition-edge sensors readout with a 128 MUX factor for the QUBIC experiment

QUBIC (the Q and U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology) is a ground-based experiment which seeks to improve the current constraints on the amplitude of primordial gravitational waves. It exploits the unique technique, among Cosmic Microwave Background experiments, of bolometric interferometry, combining together the sensitivity of bolometric detectors with the control of systematic effects typical of interferometers. QUBIC will perform sky observations in polarization, in two frequency bands centered at 150 and 220 GHz, with two kilo-pixel focal plane arrays of NbSi Transition-Edge Sensors (TES) cooled down to 350 mK. A subset of the QUBIC instrument, the so called QUBIC Technological Demonstrator (TD), with a reduced number of detectors with respect to the full instrument, will be deployed and commissioned before the end of 2018. The voltage-biased TES are read out with Time Domain Multiplexing and an unprecedented multiplexing (MUX) factor equal to 128. This MUX factor is reached with two-stage multiplexing: a traditional one exploiting Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) at 1K and a novel SiGe Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) at 60 K. The former provides a MUX factor of 32, while the latter provides a further 4. Each TES array is composed of 256 detectors and read out with four modules of 32 SQUIDs and two ASICs. A custom software synchronizes and manages the readout and detector operation, while the TES are sampled at 780 Hz (100kHz/128 MUX rate). In this work we present the experimental characterization of the QUBIC TES arrays and their multiplexing readout chain, including time constant, critical temperature, and noise properties

QUBIC:Exploring the primordial universe with the Q&U bolometric interferometer

In this paper we describe QUBIC, an experiment that will observe the polarized microwave sky with a novel approach, which combines the sensitivity of state-of-the art bolometric detectors with the systematic effects control typical of interferometers. QUBIC unique features are the so-called "self-calibration", a technique that allows us to clean the measured data from instrumental effects, and its spectral imaging power, i.e. the ability to separate the signal in various sub-bands within each frequency band. QUBIC will observe the sky in two main frequency bands: 150 GHz and 220 GHz. A technological demonstrator is currently under testing and will be deployed in Argentina during 2019, while the final instrument is expected to be installed during 2020.Comment: Proceedings of the 2018 ICNFP conference, Crete. Published by Universe arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1801.0373

QUBIC: the Q and U bolometric interferometer for cosmology

QUBIC, the Q & U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology, is a novel ground-based instrument that has been designed to measure the extremely faint B-mode polarisation anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background at intermediate angular scales (multipoles o