arXiv subjects

Edward J. Wollack

Publications and source records attributed to Edward J. Wollack.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Characterization of aliased noise in the Advanced ACTPol receiver

Advanced ACTPol is the second generation polarization-sensitive upgrade to the $6\, \rm m$ aperture Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), which increased detector count and frequency coverage compared to the previous ACTPol receiver. Advanced ACTPol utilizes a new two-stage time-division multiplexing readout architecture based on superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) to achieve a multiplexing factor as high as 64 (rows), fielding a 2,012 detector camera at 150/220 GHz and two 90/150 GHz cameras containing 1,716 detectors each. In a time domain system, aliasing introduces noise to the readout. In this work we present a figure of merit to measure this noise contribution and present measurements of the aliased noise fraction of the Advanced ACTPol receiver as deployed.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Two-year Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) Observations: A Measurement of Circular Polarization at 40 GHz

We report circular polarization measurements from the first two years of observation with the 40 GHz polarimeter of the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS). CLASS is conducting a multi-frequency survey covering 75% of the sky from the Atacama Desert designed to measure the cosmic microwave background (CMB) linear E and B polarization on angular scales $1^\circ \lesssim θ\leq 90^\circ$, corresponding to a multipole range of $2 \leq \ell \lesssim 200$. The modulation technology enabling measurements of linear polarization at the largest angular scales from the ground, the Variable-delay Polarization Modulator, is uniquely designed to provide explicit sensitivity to circular polarization (Stokes $V$). We present a first detection of circularly polarized atmospheric emission at 40 GHz that is well described by a dipole with an amplitude of $124\pm4\,\mathrm{μK}$ when observed at an elevation of $45^\circ$, and discuss its potential impact as a foreground to CMB experiments. Filtering the atmospheric component, CLASS places a 95% C.L. upper limit of $0.4\,\mathrm{μK}^2$ to $13.5\,\mathrm{μK}^2$ on $\ell(\ell+1)C_\ell^{VV}/(2π)$ between $1 \leq \ell \leq 120$, representing a two-orders-of-magnitude improvement over previous limits.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

Quantifying the Thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect and Excess Millimeter Emission in Quasar Environments

In this paper we probe the hot, post-shock gas component of quasar-driven winds through the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect. Combining datasets from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, the $\textit{Herschel}$ Space Observatory, and the Very Large Array, we measure average spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 109,829 optically-selected, radio quiet quasars from 1.4~GHz to 3000~GHz in six redshift bins between $0.3 1.91$, we measure the tSZ effect at $3.8σ$ significance with an amplitude corresponding to a total thermal energy of $3.1\times10^{60}$ ergs. If this energy is due to virialized gas, then our measurement implies quasar host halo masses are $\sim6\times10^{12}~h^{-1}$M$_\odot$. Alternatively, if the host dark matter halo masses are $\sim2\times10^{12}~h^{-1}$M$_\odot$ as some measurements suggest, then we measure a $>$90 per cent excess in the thermal energy over that expected due to virialization. If the measured SZ effect is primarily due to hot bubbles from quasar-driven winds, we find that $(5^{+1.2}_{-1.3}$) per cent of the quasar bolometric luminosity couples to the intergalactic medium over a fiducial quasar lifetime of 100 Myr. An additional source of tSZ may be correlated structure, and further work is required to separate the contributions. At $z\leq1.91$, we detect emission at 95 and 148~GHz that is in excess of thermal dust and optically thin synchrotron emission. We investigate potential sources of this excess emission, finding that CO line emission and an additional optically thick synchrotron component are the most viable candidates.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

The far-infrared polarization spectrum of Rho Ophiuchi A from HAWC+/SOFIA observations

We report on polarimetric maps made with HAWC+/SOFIA toward Rho Oph A, the densest portion of the Rho Ophiuchi molecular complex. We employed HAWC+ bands C (89 $μ$m) and D (154 $μ$m). The slope of the polarization spectrum was investigated by defining the quantity R_DC = p_D/p_C, where p_C and p_D represent polarization degrees in bands C and D, respectively. We find a clear correlation between R_DC and the molecular hydrogen column density across the cloud. A positive slope (R_DC > 1) dominates the lower density and well illuminated portions of the cloud, that are heated by the high mass star Oph S1, whereas a transition to a negative slope (R_DC < 1) is observed toward the denser and less evenly illuminated cloud core. We interpret the trends as due to a combination of: (1) Warm grains at the cloud outskirts, which are efficiently aligned by the abundant exposure to radiation from Oph S1, as proposed in the radiative torques theory; and (2) Cold grains deep in the cloud core, which are poorly aligned due to shielding from external radiation. To assess this interpretation, we developed a very simple toy model using a spherically symmetric cloud core based on Herschel data, and verified that the predicted variation of R_DC is consistent with the observations. This result introduces a new method that can be used to probe the grain alignment efficiency in molecular clouds, based on the analysis of trends in the far-infrared polarization spectrum.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

Removal of Galactic foregrounds for the Simons Observatory primordial gravitational wave search

Upcoming observations from the Simons Observatory have been projected to constrain the tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r$, at the level of $σ(r)=$0.003. Here we describe one of the forecasting algorithms for the Simons Observatory in more detail, based on cleaning CMB polarization maps using a parametric model. We present a new code to perform this end-to-end forecast, and explore the assumptions in greater detail. If spatial uniformity of the spectral energy distribution of synchrotron radiation and thermal dust emission is assumed over the region planned for observations, covering almost a fifth of the sky, a bias of order 1--3$σ$ in $r$ is projected for foreground models consistent with current data. We find that by masking the most contaminated regions of sky, or by adopting more parameters to describe the spatial variation in spectral index for synchrotron and dust, such a bias can be mitigated for the foreground models we consider. We also explore strategies for testing whether the cleaned CMB polarization maps contain residual foreground contamination, including cross-correlating with maps tracing the foregrounds. This method also has applications for other CMB polarization experiments.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

On-sky performance of the CLASS Q-band telescope

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is mapping the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at large angular scales ($2<\ell\lesssim200$) in search of a primordial gravitational wave B-mode signal down to a tensor-to-scalar ratio of $r \approx 0.01$. The same data set will provide a near sample-variance-limited measurement of the optical depth to reionization. Between June 2016 and March 2018, CLASS completed the largest ground-based Q-band CMB survey to date, covering over 31 000~square-degrees (75% of the sky), with an instantaneous array noise-equivalent temperature (NET) sensitivity of $32~μ\mbox{K}_{cmb}\sqrt{\mbox{s}}$. We demonstrate that the detector optical loading ($1.6~\mbox{pW}$) and noise-equivalent power ($19~\mbox{aW}\sqrt{\mbox{s}}$) match the expected noise model dominated by photon bunching noise. We derive a $13.1\pm0.3~\mbox{K/pW}$ calibration to antenna temperature based on Moon observations, which translates to an optical efficiency of $0.48\pm0.04$ and a $27~\mbox{K}$ system noise temperature. Finally, we report a Tau A flux density of $308\pm11~\mbox{Jy}$ at $38.4\pm0.2~\mbox{GHz}$, consistent with the WMAP Tau A time-dependent spectral flux density model.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

WFIRST: Enhancing Transient Science and Multi-Messenger Astronomy

Astrophysical transients have been observed for millennia and have shaped our most basic assumptions about the Universe. In the last century, systematic searches have grown from detecting handfuls of transients per year to over 7000 in 2018 alone. As these searches have matured, we have discovered both large samples of "normal" classes and new, rare classes. Recently, a transient was the first object observed in both gravitational waves and light. Ground-based observatories, including LSST, will discover thousands of transients in the optical, but these facilities will not provide the high-fidelity near-infrared (NIR) photometry and high-resolution imaging of a space-based observatory. WFIRST can fill this gap. With its survey designed to measure the expansion history of the Universe with Type Ia supernovae, WFIRST will also discover and monitor thousands of other transients in the NIR, revealing the physics for these high-energy events. Small-scale GO programs, either as a supplement to the planned survey or as specific target-of-opportunity observations, would significantly expand the scope of transient science that can be studied with WFIRST.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Non-Gaussianity of secondary anisotropies from ACTPol and Planck

Most secondary sources of cosmic microwave background anisotropy (radio sources, dusty galaxies -DSFGs-, thermal Sunyaev Zel'dovich -tSZ- distortions from hot gas, and gravitational lensing) are highly non-Gaussian. Statistics beyond the power spectrum are therefore potentially important sources of information about the physics of these processes. We combine data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and with data from the Planck satellite (only using Planck data in the overlapping region) to constrain the amplitudes of a set of theoretical bispectrum templates from the tSZ effect, DSFGs, gravitational lensing, and radio galaxies. We make a strong detection of radio galaxies (>5$σ$) and have hints of non-Gaussianity arising from the tSZ effect, DSFGs, from cross-correlations between the tSZ effect and DSFGs and from cross-correlations among the tSZ effect, DSFGs and radio galaxies. These results suggest that the same halos host radio sources, DSFGs, and have tSZ signal. We present a new method to calculate the non-Gaussian contributions to the template covariances. Using this method we find significant non-Gaussian contributions to the variance and covariance of our templates, with templates involving the tSZ effect most effected. Strong degeneracies exist between the various sources at the current noise levels. In light of these degeneracies, combined with theoretical uncertainty in the templates, these results are a demonstration of this technique. With these caveats, we demonstrate the utility of future bispectrum measurements by using the tSZ bispectrum measurement to constrain a combination of the amplitude of matter fluctuations and the matter density to be $σ_8 Ω_m^{0.17}=0.65^{+0.05}_{-0.06}$. Improvements in signal to noise from upcoming observations will enable the separation of bispectrum components and robust constraints on cosmological parameters.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

Key Technologies for the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope Coronagraph Instrument

The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) is a high-contrast imager and integral field spectrograph that will enable the study of exoplanets and circumstellar disks at visible wavelengths. Ground-based high-contrast instrumentation has fundamentally limited performance at small working angles, even under optimistic assumptions for 30m-class telescopes. There is a strong scientific driver for better performance, particularly at visible wavelengths. Future flagship mission concepts aim to image Earth analogues with visible light flux ratios of more than 10^10. CGI is a critical intermediate step toward that goal, with a predicted 10^8-9 flux ratio capability in the visible. CGI achieves this through improvements over current ground and space systems in several areas: (i) Hardware: space-qualified (TRL9) deformable mirrors, detectors, and coronagraphs, (ii) Algorithms: wavefront sensing and control; post-processing of integral field spectrograph, polarimetric, and extended object data, and (iii) Validation of telescope and instrument models at high accuracy and precision. This white paper, submitted to the 2018 NAS Exoplanet Science Strategy call, describes the status of key CGI technologies and presents ways in which performance is likely to evolve as the CGI design matures.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

A 3D-printed broadband millimeter wave absorber

We present the design, manufacturing technique, and characterization of a 3D-printed broadband graded index millimeter wave absorber. The absorber is additively manufactured using a fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printer out of a carbon-loaded high impact polystyrene (HIPS) filament and is designed using a space-filling curve to optimize manufacturability using said process. The absorber's reflectivity is measured from 63 GHz to 115 GHz and from 140 GHz to 215 GHz and is compared to electromagnetic simulations. The intended application is for terminating stray light in Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) telescopes, and the absorber has been shown to survive cryogenic thermal cycling.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

HAWC+/SOFIA Multiwavelength Polarimetric Observations of OMC-1

We report new polarimetric and photometric maps of the massive star-forming region OMC-1 using the HAWC+ instrument on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). We present continuum polarimetric and photometric measurements of this region at 53, 89, 154, and 214 microns at angular resolutions of 5.1, 7.9, 14.0, and 18.7 arcseconds for the four bands, respectively. The photometric maps enable the computation of improved SEDs for the region. We find that at the longer wavelengths, the inferred magnetic field configuration matches the `hourglass' configuration seen in previous studies, indicating magnetically-regulated star formation. The field morphology differs at the shorter wavelengths. The magnetic field inferred at these wavelengths traces the bipolar structure of the explosive Becklin-Neugebauer (BN)/Kleinman-Low (KL) outflow emerging from OMC-1 behind the Orion Nebula. Using statistical methods to estimate the field strength in the region, we find that the explosion dominates the magnetic field near the center of the feature. Farther out, the magnetic field is close to energetic equilibrium with the ejecta and may be providing confinement to the explosion. The correlation between polarization fraction and the local polarization angle dispersion indicates that the depolarization as a function of unpolarized intensity is a result of intrinsic field geometry as opposed to decreases in grain alignment efficiency in denser regions.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

Fabrication of phononic filter structures for far-IR/sub-mm detector applications

A photon noise limited sub-mm/far-IR cold telescope in space will require detectors with noise equivalent power (NEP) less than 1x10-19 W/Hz1/2 for imaging applications and at least an order of magnitude lower for spectroscopic studies. The detector NEP can be reduced by lowering the operation temperature and improving the thermal isolation between the bolometer and a heat bath. We report on the fabrication of membrane isolated transition edge sensor bolometers incorporating compact (<50 μm) thermal isolation beams based on phononic filters. Phononic filters are created by etching quasi-periodic nanoscale structures into supporting thermo-mechanical beams. The cross-sectional dimensions of the etched features are less than the thermal wavelength at the operating temperature, enabling coherent phonon transport to take place in one dimension. The phonon stop-band can be tuned by adjusting the scale of the quasi-periodic structures. Cascading multiple filter stages can increase bandwidth and provide improved thermal isolation similar to the function of a multi-stage electrical filter. We describe the fabrication of AlMn based transition edge sensor bolometers on silicon and silicon nitride membranes isolated by one- and two-dimensional phononic filters. The phononic filters are patterned through electron beam lithography and isolated with deep reactive ion etching.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2018

SOFIA Far Infrared Imaging Polarimetry of M82 and NGC 253: Exploring the Super-Galactic Wind

We present Far-Infrared polarimetry observations of M82 at 53 and $154~μ\rm{m}$ and NGC 253 at $89~μ\rm{m}$, which were taken with HAWC+ in polarimetry mode on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). The polarization of M82 at $53~μ\rm{m}$ clearly shows a magnetic field geometry perpendicular to the disk in the hot dust emission. For M82 the polarization at $154~μ\rm{m}$ shows a combination of field geometry perpendicular to the disk in the nuclear region, but closer to parallel to the disk away from the nucleus. The fractional polarization at $53~μ\rm{m}$ $(154~μ\rm{m})$ ranges from 7% (3%) off nucleus to 0.5% (0.3%) near the nucleus. A simple interpretation of the observations of M82 invokes a massive polar outflow, dragging the field along, from a region $\sim 700$~pc in diameter that has entrained some of the gas and dust, creating a vertical field geometry seen mostly in the hotter $(53~μ\rm{m})$ dust emission. This outflow sits within a larger disk with a more typical planar geometry that more strongly contributes to the cooler $(154~μ\rm{m})$ dust emission. For NGC 253, the polarization at $89~μ\rm{m}$ is dominated by a planar geometry in the tilted disk, with weak indication of a vertical geometry above and below the plane from the nucleus. The polarization observations of NGC 253 at $53~μ\rm{m}$ were of insufficient S/N for detailed analysis.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

SOFIA - HIRMES: Looking forward to the HIgh-Resolution Mid-infrarEd Spectrometer

The HIgh-Resolution Mid-infrarEd Spectrometer (HIRMES) is the 3rd Generation Instrument for the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), currently in development at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), and due for commissioning in 2019. By combining direct-detection Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometer arrays, grating-dispersive spectroscopy, and a host of Fabry-Perot tunable filters, HIRMES will provide the ability for High Resolution (R~100,000), Mid-Resolution (R~10,000), and Low-Resolution (R~600) slit-spectroscopy, and 2D Spectral Imaging (R~2000 at selected wavelengths) over the 25 - 122 μm mid-far infrared waveband. The driving science application is the evolution of proto-planetary systems via measurements of water-vapor, water-ice, deuterated hydrogen (HD), and neutral oxygen lines. However, HIRMES has been designed to be as flexible as possible to cover a wide range of science cases that fall within its phase-space, all whilst reaching sensitivities and observing powers not yet seen thus far on SOFIA, providing unique observing capabilities which will remain unmatched for decades.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2018

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Two-season ACTPol Extragalactic Point Sources and their Polarization properties

We report on measurements of the polarization of extragalactic sources at 148 GHz made during the first two seasons of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarization (ACTPol) survey. The survey covered 680 deg$^{2}$ of the sky on the celestial equator. Polarization measurements of 169 intensity-selected sources brighter than 30 mJy, that are predominantly Active Galactic Nuclei, are presented. Above a total flux of 215 mJy where the noise bias removal in the polarization measurement is reliable, we detect 26 sources, 14 of which have a detection of linear polarization at greater than 3$σ_{p}$ significance. The distribution of the fractional polarization as a function of total source intensity is analyzed. Our result is consistent with the scenario that the fractional polarization of our measured radio source population is independent of total intensity down to the limits of our measurements and well described by a Gaussian distribution with a mean fractional polarization $p=0.028\pm$0.005 and standard deviation $σ_{\mathrm{p}}=0.054$, truncated at $p=0$. Extrapolating this model for the distribution of source polarization below the ACTPol detection threshold, we predict that one could get a clean measure of the E-mode polarization power spectrum of the microwave background out to $\ell=6000$ with 1 $μ$K-arcminute maps over 10$\%$ of the sky from a future survey. We also study the spectral energy distribution of the total and polarized source flux densities by cross-matching with low radio frequency catalogs. We do not find any correlation between the spectral indices for total flux and polarized flux.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2018

Dielectric Properties of Conductively Loaded Polyimides in the Far Infrared

The dielectric properties of selected conductively-loaded polyimide samples are characterized in microwave through far infrared wavebands. These materials, belonging to the Vespel\textsuperscript{\textregistered} family, are more readily formed by direct machining than their ceramic loaded epoxy counterparts and present an interesting solution for realizing absorptive optical control structures. Measurements spanning a spectral range from 1 to 600\,${\rm cm^{-1}}$ (0.03 to 18\,THz) were preformed and used in parametrization of the media's dielectric function at frequencies below $\approx3\,$THz.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

Feedhorn development and scalability for Simons Observatory and beyond

The Simons Observatory (SO) will measure the cosmic microwave background (CMB) in both temperature and polarization over a wide range of angular scales and frequencies from 27-270 GHz with unprecedented sensitivity. One technology for coupling light onto the $\sim$50 detector wafers that SO will field is spline-profiled feedhorns, which offer tunability between coupling efficiency and control of beam polarization leakage effects. We will present efforts to scale up feedhorn production for SO and their viability for future CMB experiments, including direct-machining metal feedhorn arrays and laser machining stacked Si arrays.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2018

Studies of Systematic Uncertainties for Simons Observatory: Detector Array Effects

In this proceeding, we present studies of instrumental systematic effects for the Simons Obsevatory (SO) that are associated with the detector system and its interaction with the full SO experimental systems. SO will measure the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature and polarization anisotropies over a wide range of angular scales in six bands with bandcenters spanning from 27 GHz to 270 GHz. We explore effects including intensity-to-polarization leakage due to coupling optics, bolometer nonlinearity, uncalibrated gain variations of bolometers, and readout crosstalk. We model the level of signal contamination, discuss proposed mitigation schemes, and present instrument requirements to inform the design of SO and future CMB projects.

astro-ph.IM↗