Modeling the electromagnetic properties of the SCUBA-2 detectors

SCUBA-2 is the next-generation replacement for SCUBA (Sub-millimetre Common User Bolometer Array) on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. Operating at 450 and 850 microns, SCUBA-2 fills the focal plane of the telescope with fully-sampled, monolithic bolometer arrays. Each SCUBA-2 pixel uses a quarter-wave slab of silicon with an implanted resistive layer and backshort as an absorber and a superconducting transition edge sensor as a thermometer. In order to verify and optimize the pixel design, we have investigated the electromagnetic behaviour of the detectors, using both a simple transmission-line model and Ansoft HFSS, a finite-element electromagnetic simulator. We used the transmission line model to fit transmission measurements of doped wafers and determined the correct implant dose for the absorbing layer. The more detailed HFSS modelling yielded some unexpected results which led us to modify the pixel design. We also verified that the detectors suffered little loss of sensitivity for off-axis angles up to about 30 degrees.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures, SPIE Glasgow 21-25 June 2004, Conference 549

Planck 2015 results:II. Low Frequency Instrument data processings

We present an updated description of the Planck Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) data processing pipeline, associated with the 2015 data release. We point out the places where our results and methods have remained unchanged since the 2013 paper and we highlight the changes made for the 2015 release, describing the products (especially timelines) and the ways in which they were obtained. We demonstrate that the pipeline is self-consistent (principally based on simulations) and report all null tests. For the first time, we present LFI maps in Stokes Q and U polarization. We refer to other related papers where more detailed descriptions of the LFI data processing pipeline may be found if needed

The effect of a scanning flat fold mirror on a CMB B-mode experiment

We investigate the possibility of using a flat-fold beam steering mirror for a CMB B-mode experiment. An aluminium flat-fold mirror is found to add $\sim$0.075% polarization, which varies in a scan synchronous way. Time-domain simulations of a realistic scanning pattern are performed, and the effect on the power-spectrum illustrated and a possible method of correction applied.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Rev Sci Ins

Experimental realization of an achromatic magnetic mirror based on metamaterials

Our work relates to the use of metamaterials engineered to realize a meta-surface approaching the exotic properties of an ideal object not observed in nature, a ‘magnetic mirror’. Previous realizations were based on resonant structures which implied narrow bandwidths and large losses. The working principle of our device is ideally frequency-independent, it does not involve resonances and it does not rely on a specific technology. The performance of our prototype, working at millimetre wavelengths, has never been achieved before and it is superior to any other device reported in the literature, both in the microwave and optical regions. The device inherently has large bandwidth (144%), low losses (<1 %) and is almost independent of incidence-angle and polarization-state and thus approaches the behaviour of an ideal magnetic mirror. Applications of magnetic mirrors range from low-profile antennas, absorbers to optoelectronic devices. Our device can be realised using different technologies to operate in other spectral regions

A Demonstration of Spectral and Spatial Interferometry at THz Frequencies

A laboratory prototype spectral/spatial interferometer has been constructed to demonstrate the feasibility of the double Fourier technique at Far Infrared (FIR) wavelengths (0.15 - 1 THz). It is planned to use this demonstrator to investigate and validate important design features and data processing methods for future astronomical FIR interferometer instruments. In building this prototype we have had to address several key technologies to provide an end-end system demonstration of this double Fourier interferometer. We report on the first results taken when viewing single slit and double slit sources at the focus of a large collimator used to simulate real sources at infinity. The performance of the prototype instrument for these specific field geometries is analyzed to compare with the observed interferometric fringes and to demonstrate image reconstruction capabilities.Comment: Accepted for publication in Applied Optic

A plausible model of inflation driven by strong gravitational wave turbulence

It is widely accepted that the primordial universe experienced a brief period of accelerated expansion called inflation. This scenario provides a plausible solution to the horizon and flatness problems. However, the particle physics mechanism responsible for inflation remains speculative with, in particular, the assumption of a scalar field called inflaton. Furthermore, the comparison with the most recent data raises new questions that encourage the consideration of alternative hypotheses. Here, we propose a completely different scenario based on a mechanism whose origins lie in the nonlinearities of the Einstein field equations. We use the analytical results of weak gravitational wave turbulence to develop a phenomenological theory of strong gravitational wave turbulence where the inverse cascade of wave action plays a key role. In this scenario, the space-time metric excitation triggers an explosive inverse cascade followed by the formation of a condensate in Fourier space whose growth is interpreted as an expansion of the universe. Contrary to the idea that gravitation can only produce a decelerating expansion, our study reveals that strong gravitational wave turbulence could be a source of inflation. The fossil spectrum that emerges from this scenario is shown to be in agreement with the cosmic microwave background radiation measured by the Planck mission. Direct numerical simulations can be used to check our predictions and to investigate the question of non-Gaussianity through the measure of intermittency

The Simons Observatory: Science goals and forecasts

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a new cosmic microwave background experiment being built on Cerro Toco in Chile, due to begin observations in the early 2020s. We describe the scientific goals of the experiment, motivate the design, and forecast its performance. SO will measure the temperature and polarization anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background in six frequency bands centered at: 27, 39, 93, 145, 225 and 280 GHz. The initial configuration of SO will have three small-aperture 0.5-m telescopes and one large-aperture 6-m telescope, with a total of 60,000 cryogenic bolometers. Our key science goals are to characterize the primordial perturbations, measure the number of relativistic species and the mass of neutrinos, test for deviations from a cosmological constant, improve our understanding of galaxy evolution, and constrain the duration of reionization. The small aperture telescopes will target the largest angular scales observable from Chile, mapping ≈ 10% of the sky to a white noise level of 2 μK-arcmin in combined 93 and 145 GHz bands, to measure the primordial tensor-to-scalar ratio, r, at a target level of σ(r)=0.003. The large aperture telescope will map ≈ 40% of the sky at arcminute angular resolution to an expected white noise level of 6 μK-arcmin in combined 93 and 145 GHz bands, overlapping with the majority of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope sky region and partially with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. With up to an order of magnitude lower polarization noise than maps from the Planck satellite, the high-resolution sky maps will constrain cosmological parameters derived from the damping tail, gravitational lensing of the microwave background, the primordial bispectrum, and the thermal and kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects, and will aid in delensing the large-angle polarization signal to measure the tensor-to-scalar ratio. The survey will also provide a legacy catalog of 16,000 galaxy clusters and more than 20,000 extragalactic sources