Title
Systematic Effects in Interferometric Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization
DOI
10.1088/0067-0049/207/1/14
Abstract
The detection of the primordial B-mode spectrum of the polarized cosmic microwave background (CMB) signal may provide a probe of inflation. However, observation of such a faint signal requires excellent control of systematic errors. Interferometry proves to be a promising approach for overcoming such a challenge. In this paper we present a complete simulation pipeline of interferometric observations of CMB polarization, including systematic errors. We employ two different methods for obtaining the power spectra from mock data produced by simulated observations: the maximum likelihood method and the method of Gibbs sampling. We show that the results from both methods are consistent with each other as well as, within a factor of six, with analytical estimates. Several categories of systematic errors are considered: instrumental errors, consisting of antenna gain and antenna coupling errors; and beam errors, consisting of antenna pointing errors, beam cross-polarization, and beam shape (and size) errors. In order to recover the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r, within a 10% tolerance level, which ensures the experiment is sensitive enough to detect the B-signal at r = 0.01 in the multipole range 28 < _ < 384, we find that, for a QUBIC-like experiment, Gaussian-distributed systematic errors must be controlled with precisions of |grms| = 0.1 for antenna gain, |_rms| = 5 × 10−4 for antenna coupling, δrms ≈ 0. ◦ 7 for pointing, ζrms ≈ 0°.7 for beam shape, and μrms = 5 × 10−4 for beam cross-polarization. Although the combined systematic effects produce a tolerance level on r twice as large for an experiment with linear polarizers, the resulting bias in r for a circular experiment is 15%which is still on the level of desirable sensitivity.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-1-2013
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2013 The American Astronomical Society. This article first appeared in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 207, no. 1 (July 01, 2013): 1-14. doi:10.1088/0067-0049/207/1/14.
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Recommended Citation
Karakci, Ata, Le Zhang, P. M. Sutter, Emory F. Bunn, Andrei Korotkov, Peter Timbie, Gregory S. Tucker, and Benjamin D. Wandelt. "Systematic Effects in Interferometric Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization." The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 207, no. 1 (July 01, 2013): 1-14. doi:10.1088/0067-0049/207/1/14.