The Anisotropy of the Microwave Background to l = 3500: Mosaic Observations with the Cosmic Background Imager

Abstract

Using the Cosmic Background Imager, a 13-element interferometer array operating in the 26-36 GHz frequency band, we have observed 40 sq deg of sky in three pairs of fields, each ~ 145 x 165 arcmin, using overlapping pointings (mosaicing). We present images and power spectra of the cosmic microwave background radiation in these mosaic fields. We remove ground radiation and other low-level contaminating signals by differencing matched observations of the fields in each pair. The primary foreground contamination is due to point sources (radio galaxies and quasars). We have subtracted the strongest sources from the data using higher-resolution measurements, and we have projected out the response to other sources of known position in the power-spectrum analysis. The images show features on scales ~ 6 - 15 arcmin, corresponding to masses ~ (5 - 80)*10^{14} Msun at the surface of last scattering, which are likely to be the seeds of clusters of galaxies. The power spectrum estimates have a resolution Delta-l = 200 and are consistent with earlier results in the multipole range l <~ 1000. The power spectrum is detected with high signal-to-noise ratio in the range 300 <~ l <~ 1700. For 1700 <~ l <~ 3000 the observations are consistent with the results from more sensitive CBI deep-field observations. The results agree with the extrapolation of cosmological models fitted to observations at lower l, and show the predicted drop at high l (the "damping tail").