Measurements of Sub-degreeb-mode Polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background From 100 Square Degrees of Sptpol Data
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: We present a measurement of the B -mode polarization power spectrum (the BB spectrum) from 100 of sky observed with SPTpol, a polarization-sensitive receiver currently installed on the South Pole Telescope. The observations used in this work were taken during 2012 and early 2013 and include data in spectral bands centered at 95 and 150 GHz. We report the BB spectrum in five bins in multipole space, spanning the range , and for three spectral combinations: 95 GHz × 95 GHz, 95 GHz × 150 GHz, and 150 GHz × 150 GHz. We subtract small (<0.5 σ in units of statistical uncertainty) biases from these spectra and account for the uncertainty in those biases. The resulting power spectra are inconsistent with zero power but consistent with predictions for the BB spectrum arising from the gravitational lensing of E -mode polarization. If we assume no other source of BB power besides lensed B modes, we determine a preference for lensed B modes of 4.9 σ . After marginalizing over tensor power and foregrounds, namely, polarized emission from galactic dust and extragalactic sources, this significance is 4.3 σ . Fitting for a single parameter, , that multiplies the predicted lensed B -mode spectrum, and marginalizing over tensor power and foregrounds, we find , indicating that our measured spectra are consistent with the signal expected from gravitational lensing. The data presented here provide the best measurement to date of the B -mode power spectrum on these angular scales.
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
Authors: R. Keisler, S. Hoover, N. Harrington, J. W. Henning, P. A. R. Ade, K. A. Aird, J. E. Austermann, J. A. Beall, A. N. Bender, B. A. Benson, L. E. Bleem, J. E. Carlstrom, C. L. Chang, H. C. Chiang, H-M. Cho, R. Citron, T. M. Crawford, A. T. Crites, T. de Haan, M. A. Dobbs, W. Everett, J. Gallicchio, J. Gao, E. M. George, A. Gilbert, N. W. Halverson, D. Hanson, G. C. Hilton, G. P. Holder, W. L. Holzapfel, Z. Hou, J. D. Hrubes, N. Huang, J. Hubmayr, K. D. Irwin, L. Knox, A. T. Lee, E. M. Leitch, D. Li, D. Luong-Van, D. P. Marrone, J. J. McMahon, J. Mehl, S. S. Meyer, L. Mocanu, T. Natoli, J. P. Nibarger, V. Novosad, S. Padin, C. Pryke, C. L. Reichardt, J. E. Ruhl, B. R. Saliwanchik, J. T. Sayre, K. K. Schaffer, E. Shirokoff, G. Smecher, A. A. Stark, K. T. Story, C. Tucker, K. Vanderlinde, J. D. Vieira, G. Wang, N. Whitehorn, V. Yefremenko, O. Zahn
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, University of Chicago, McGill University, Canada Research Chairs, Office of Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Argonne National Laboratory
Awards: G102163711, G1055550527, G107546177, Center for Cosmological Physics, G1286236842, G1313983767, G159716036, G1664757510, G1863003419, G2110534122, G2287611682, G262962599, G2638771445, G3075337988, Cosmological Research with the 10-meter South Pole Telescope, G3083819904, G4061288673, G419881185, G42916606, G4501827968, G498139845, Signatures of Cosmic Inflation: High-Resolution Studies of the Cosmic Microwave Background, G513797252, G585908603, CAREER: Large focal plane array development for CMB polarization studies with the South Pole Telescope, G6652958823, G6848031779, G6918803902, G969889393, G993149817
OpenAlex ID: W1680104732