Mid-scale RI-2: Advanced Millimeter Survey Instrumentation in Chile

高分辨率的大规模毫米波巡天，旨在探索宇宙的起源和演化，可以解决一系列紧迫的科学问题。下一代宇宙微波背景（CMB）仪器将揭示宇宙的起源和演化，推动其诞生和成长的基本物理，以及它们相互作用和变化时的动态内容。实现这些目标需要在仪器功能和数据管道方面进行重大改进。在西蒙斯基金会（SF）对西蒙斯天文台（SO）的重大投资的基础上，该奖项提供了三个先进的SO （ASO）交付成果，这将增加科学范围，增加对仪器不专业的更广泛社区的访问，减少设施对环境的影响，并改善与东道国智利的关系。一旦ASO开始运作，在调查活动期间有广泛的计划进行公众宣传和培训早期职业研究人员。与此同时，基础设施的实施涉及十几名研究生和大约十名博士后，他们是关键人物。青年物理学家将有机会在夏季活动中与SO科学家一起工作，并在ASO基础设施方面进行广泛的培训，由SO科学家与西蒙斯基金会和全国黑人物理学家协会合作指导。该奖项的贡献是：(i)为SO 6米直径大口径望远镜提供30,000个新探测器和相关光学器件，使其映射速度提高一倍，并能够探测瞬态物体；（ii）端到端的数据管道，以生成和验证所有SO数据的地图，并与其他调查（如鲁宾天文台的调查）同时生成可变光源的每日光线曲线，以及（iii）光伏发电系统，直接提高系统灵敏度，同时降低运营成本和环境影响。这个基础设施对调查目标至关重要，以有规律的节奏生成天空的毫米波图。这样的地图是寻找原始引力波的关键部分，但也有助于理解星系演化和磁场的作用。分析将：(1)揭示早期宇宙的物理条件，并约束任何新的光粒子；(2)测量近代宇宙中质量、电子压力和电子动量的分布，并结合大尺度结构调查确定中微子质量和暗能量的影响；(3)测量星系团和星系团周围电子密度和压力的分布；(4)利用热Sunyaev-Zel 'dovich效应发现了3万多个星系团和10万多个河外毫米源；(5)利用银河系的磁场测量尘埃的排列；(6)与光学观测同时揭示瞬态宇宙的新特征。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Large scale millimeter-wave surveys of the sky at high resolution, designed to explore the origin and evolution of the universe, can address a wide range of pressing science questions. The next generation of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) instruments will reveal much about the origin and evolution of the Universe, about the fundamental physics driving its birth and growth, and about its dynamic contents as they interact and change. Achieving these goals requires a significant improvement both in instrumental capabilities and in data pipelines. Building on significant investment by the Simons Foundation (SF) in the Simons Observatory (SO), this award provides three Advanced SO (ASO) deliverables, which will increase the scientific reach, increase access to the wider community not expert in the instrumentation, and decrease the environmental impact of the facility and improve relations with the host country of Chile. There are extensive plans for public outreach and the training of early career researchers during the survey activity once ASO is operational. Meanwhile, implementation of the infrastructure involves more than a dozen graduate students and around ten postdocs, as key players. There will be opportunities for young physicists to work with SO scientists on summer activities, and extensive training on the ASO infrastructure, mentored by SO scientists in a collaboration with the Simons Foundation and the National Society of Black Physicists.The contributions from this award are: (i) 30,000 new detectors and associated optics for the SO six-meter diameter Large Aperture Telescope, doubling its mapping speed and enabling the detection of transient objects; (ii) an end-to-end data pipeline to produce and validate maps of all SO data, and generate daily light-curves of variable sources concurrent with other surveys such as those from the Rubin Observatory, and (iii) a photovoltaic power system that directly increases system sensitivity while reducing operating costs and environmental impact. This infrastructure is crucial to the survey goal, to produce millimeter-wave maps of the sky on a regular cadence. Such maps are a critical part of the search for primordial gravitational waves, but also help understanding of galaxy evolution and the role of magnetic fields. Analysis will: (1) reveal physical conditions in the early universe and constrain any new light particles; (2) measure the distribution of mass, electron pressure, and electron momentum in the more recent universe, and combine with large-scale structure surveys to determine the neutrino mass and the effects of dark energy; (3) measure the distribution of electron density and pressure around galaxy groups and clusters; (4) use the thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect to find more than 30,000 galaxy clusters and more than 100,000 extragalactic millimeter sources; (5) measure the alignment of dust by magnetic fields in our Galaxy; and (6) reveal new features of the transient universe concurrent with optical observations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.