MRI-R2: Development of a Polarimeter for the 10 Meter South Pole Telescope

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)提供资金的。这项提议要求支持开发一种最先进的偏振敏感接收器SPT-POL，该接收器将用于与10米南极望远镜(SPT)进行宇宙学研究。SPT-POL将安装在SPT上，用于测量从2012年南冬开始的宇宙微波背景辐射(CMB)从一角分到度的偏振各向异性。通过对产生的偏振图的分析，该项目将确定由大尺度结构对本征E模偏振(无旋度分量)的透镜所引起的CMB B模偏振(旋度分量)的角功率谱。透镜B模谱通过中微子质量对大尺度透镜结构生长的影响来提供对中微子质量的敏感性。该项目还将通过宇宙初生瞬间产生的充气引力波，寻找印在CMB上的大角度B模偏振信号。探测膨胀的B模谱将是对宇宙起源的膨胀理论的一次壮观的考验，并将设定膨胀时代的能量标度。除了CMB温度和偏振各向异性数据外，获得的数据集将包括大量信息，包括大质量星系团和河外毫米和亚毫米源的星表。对学生的持续依赖为这项拟议的研究提供了更广泛的影响，并使这一努力在其教育使命中站稳了脚跟。该项目将通过将研究生和本科教育与技术和仪器开发、天文野外观测和科学分析相结合，为培养下一代科学家作出重大贡献。与非科学家的前沿研究共享将通过一个完善和充满活力的教育网络延伸到大学以外，该网络覆盖了教育连续体系中所有级别的广泛受众。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This proposal requests support for the development of a state-of-the-art polarization-sensitive receiver SPT-POL that will be used to conduct a program of cosmological research with the 10-meter South Pole Telescope (SPT). The SPT-POL will be installed on the SPT and used to measure the polarization anisotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation from scales of an arcminute to degrees, starting in austral winter 2012. From the analysis of the resulting polarization maps, the project will determine the angular power spectrum of the CMB B-mode polarization (curl component) induced by the lensing of the intrinsic E-mode polarization (curl-free component) by large-scale structures. The lensing B-mode spectrum provides sensitivity to the neutrino masses through their impact on the growth of the large-scale, lensing structure. The project will also search for the large angular scale B-mode polarization signal imprinted on the CMB by inflationary gravitational waves generated in the first instants of the Universe. Detection of the inflationary B-mode spectrum would be a spectacular test of the Inflation theory of the origin of the Universe and will set the energy scale of the Inflationary epoch. In addition to the CMB temperature and polarization anisotropy data, the obtained datasets will include a wealth of information including catalogs of massive galaxy clusters and extragalactic millimeter and submillimeter sources. Continued reliance on students provides a broader impact of this proposed research and firmly grounds this effort in its educational mission. The project will contribute significantly to the training of the next generation of scientists by integrating graduate and undergraduate education with technology and instrumentation development, astronomical field observations, and scientific analysis. The sharing of forefront research with non-scientists will be extended beyond the university through a well-established and vibrant educational network that reaches a wide audience at all levels of the educational continuum.