Collaborative Research: BICEP2 and SPUD - A Search for Inflation with Degree-Scale Polarimetry from the South Pole

ANT-0742818, PI: John M. Kovac，加州理工学院；ant -0742592, PI: Clement L. Pryke，芝加哥大学BICEP2和SPUD——从南极用度尺度偏振法搜索暴胀。这项工作是一项为期四年的研究活动计划，旨在升级自2006年初以来在南极运行的BICEP（宇宙河外偏振背景成像）望远镜，以达到探测宇宙引力波背景（CGB）的遥远目标。这台望远镜是第一台宇宙微波背景（CMB） b模偏振计，专门用于搜索CGB特征，同时绘制约2%的南部天空，这些天空没有银河系前景辐射，频率为100 GH和150 GHz。BICEP1望远镜将在2008年底达到其设计的灵敏度。对BICEP1的一系列协调升级将提供更高的灵敏度和更严格的控制仪器效果和潜在的银河前景混淆，这是在太空中更深入地搜索b模式信号所必需的。一个强大的150ghz新型接收器BICEP2将在2009年初取代现有的探测器，将测绘速度提高近10倍。2010年，一系列紧凑的机械冷却接收器（称为SPUD - DASI小型偏振仪升级）中的第一个将部署在现有的DASI安装和塔上，提供与BICEP2相似的100ghz并行映射速度。后一种仪器将达到（并超过SPUD偏振计的增加）目标灵敏度r = 0.15，这是由机构间（NSF/NASA/DoE） CMB研究工作组为未来的空间任务设定的，该任务致力于探测和表征原始引力波。这个工作组已经确定了对暴胀引力波的探测是现代宇宙学的首要任务。更广泛地说，由于宇宙学吸引了大量公众的想象力，它是激发人们对基础科学兴趣的一种非常有效的工具。CGB探测之于暴胀就像CMB辐射的发现之于大爆炸。该项目将通过将研究生和本科教育与技术和仪器开发、天文观测和科学分析相结合，为培养下一代宇宙学家做出贡献。与公众分享前沿研究成果，将新知识扩展到大学之外。该项目将由加州理工学院和芝加哥大学合作进行。

ANT-0742818, PI: John M. Kovac, California Institute of TechnologyANT-0742592, PI: Clement L. Pryke, University of ChicagoCollaborative Research: BICEP2 and SPUD - A Search for Inflation with Degree-Scale Polarimetry from the South PoleThe proposed work is a four-year program of research activities directed toward upgrading the BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) telescope operating at South Pole since early 2006 to reach far =stretching goals of detection of the Cosmic Gravitational-wave Background (CGB) . This telescope is a first Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) B-mode polarimeter, specifically designed to search for CGB signatures while mapping ~2% of the southern sky that is free of the Milky Way foreground galactic radiation at 100 GH and 150 GHz. The BICEP1 telescope will reach its designed sensitivity by the end of 2008. A coordinated series of upgrades to BICEP1 will provide the increased sensitivity and more exacting control of instrumental effects and potential confusion from galactic foregrounds necessary to search for the B-mode signal more deeply through space. A powerful new 150 GHz receiver, BICEP2, will replace the current detector at the beginning of 2009, increasing the mapping speed almost ten-fold. In 2010, the first of a series of compact, mechanically-cooled receivers (called SPUD - Small Polarimeter Upgrade for DASI) will be deployed on the existing DASI mount and tower, providing similar mapping speed at 100 GHz in parallel with BICEP2. The latter instrument will reach (and exceed with the addition of a SPUD polarimeter) the target sensitivity r = 0.15 set forth by the Interagency (NSF/NASA/DoE) Task Force on CMB Research for a future space mission dedicated to the detection and characterization of primordial gravitational waves. This Task Force has identified detection of the Inflation's gravitational waves as the number one priority for the modern cosmology. More broadly, as the cosmology captures a lot of the public imagination, it is a remarkably effective vehicle for stimulating interest in basic science. The CGB detection would be to Inflation what the discovery of the CMB radiation was to the Big Bang. The project will contribute to the training of the next generation of cosmologists by integrating graduate and undergraduate education with the technology and instrumentation development, astronomical observations and scientific analysis. Sharing of the forefront research results with public extends the new knowledge beyond the universities. This project will be undertaken in collaboration between the California Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago.