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G. Bernardi

Publications and source records attributed to G. Bernardi.

207 records · Page 12Linked to original sources
arXiv2004

Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization and reionization: constraining models with a double reionization

Neutral hydrogen around high-z QSO and an optical depth tau ~ 0.17 can be reconciled if reionization is more complex than a single transition at z ~ 6-8. Tracing its details could shed a new light on the first sources of radiation. Here we discuss how far such details can be inspected through planned experiments on CMB large-scale anisotropy and polarization, by simulating an actual data analysis. By considering a set of double reionization histories of Cen (2003) type, a relevant class of models not yet considered by previous works, we confirm that large angle experiments rival high resolution ones in reconstructing the reionization history. We also confirm that reionization histories, studied with the prior of a single and sharp reionization, yield a biased tau, showing that this bias is generic. We further find a monotonic trend in the bias for the models that we consider, and propose an explanation of the trend, as well as the overall bias. We also show that in long-lived experiments such a trend can be used to discriminate between single and double reionization patterns.

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arXiv2004

High Galactic latitude polarized emission at 1.4 GHz and implications for cosmic microwave background observations

We analyse the polarized emission at 1.4 GHz in a 3x3 deg^2 area at high Galactic latitude (b ~ -40deg). The region, centred in (RA=5h, Dec=-49deg), was observed with the Australia Telescope Compact Array radio-interferometer, whose 3-30 arcmin angular sensitivity range allows the study of scales appropriate for CMB Polarization (CMBP) investigations. The angular behavior of the diffuse emission is analysed through the E- and B-mode power spectra. These follow a power law $C^X_l \propto l^{β_X}$ with slopes β_E = -1.97 \pm 0.08 and β_B = -1.98 \pm 0.07. The emission is found to be about a factor 25 fainter than in Galactic plane regions. The comparison of the power spectra with other surveys indicates that this area is intermediate between strong and negligible Faraday rotation effects. A similar conclusion can be reached by analysing both the frequency and Galactic latitude behaviors of the diffuse Galactic emission of the 408-1411 MHz Leiden survey data. We present an analysis of the Faraday rotation effects on the polarized power spectra, and find that the observed power spectra can be enhanced by a transfer of power from large to small angular scales. The extrapolation of the spectra to 32 and 90GHz of the CMB window suggests that Galactic synchrotron emission leaves the CMBP E-mode uncontaminated at 32GHz. The level of the contamination at 90GHz is expected to be more than 4 orders of magnitude below the CMBP spectrum. Extrapolating to the relevant angular scales, this region also appears adequate for investigation of the CMBP B-modes for models with tensor/scalar fluctuation power ratio T/S>0.01. We also identify polarized point sources in the field, providing a 9 object list which is complete down to the polarized flux limit of S^p_lim = 2 mJy.

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arXiv2004

A polarized synchrotron template for CMBP experiments after WMAP data

We build template maps for the polarized Galactic--synchrotron emission on large angular scales (FWHM =~7$^\circ$), in the 20-90 GHz microwave range, by using WMAP data. The method, presented in a recent work, requires a synchrotron total intensity survey and the {\it polarization horizon} to model the polarized intensity and a starlight polarization map to model polarization angles. The basic template is obtained directly at 23 GHz with about 94% sky--coverage by using the synchrotron map released by the WMAP team. Extrapolations to 32, 60 and 90 GHz are performed by computing a synchrotron spectral index map, which strongly reduces previous uncertainties in passing from low (1.4 GHz) to microwave frequencies. Differing from low frequency data, none of our templates presents relevant structures out of the Galactic Plane. Our map at 90 GHz suggests that the synchrotron emission at high Galactic latitudes is low enough to allow a robust detection of the $E$--mode component of the cosmological signal on large--scale, even in models with low--reionization ($τ= 0.05$). Detection of the weaker $B$--mode on the largest scales ($\ell < 10$) might be jeopardized unless the value $τ= 0.17$ found by WMAP is confirmed, and $T/S > 0.1$. For lower levels of the gravitational--wave background the $B$--mode seems to be accessible only at the $\ell \sim 100$ peak and in selected low--synchrotron emission areas.

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arXiv2004

The Sky Polarization Observatory

SPOrt is an ASI-funded experiment specifically designed to measure the sky polarization at 22, 32 and 90 GHz, which was selected in 1997 by ESA to be flown on the International Space Station. Starting in 2006 and for at least 18 months, it will be taking direct and simultaneous measurements of the Stokes parameters Q and U at 660 sky pixels, with FWHM=7 degrees. Due to development efforts over the past few years, the design specifications have been significantly improved with respect to the first proposal. Here we present an up-to-date description of the instrument, which now warrants a pixel sensitivity of 1.7 microK for the polarization of the cosmic background radiation, assuming two years of observations. We discuss SPOrt scientific goals in the light of WMAP results, in particular in connection with the emerging double-reionization cosmological scenario.

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arXiv2003

Polarization observations in a low synchrotron emission field at 1.4 GHz

We present the first observation of the diffuse polarized synchrotron radiation of a patch ($\sim 3^\circ \times 3^\circ$) in the BOOMERanG field, one of the areas with the lowest CMB foreground emission. The work has been carried out with the Australia Telescope Compact Array at 1.4 GHz with 3.4 arcmin resolution and sensitivity of $\sim 0.18$ mJy beam$^{-1}$. The mean polarized signal has been found to be $P_{rms} = \sqrt{(Q_{rms}^2 + U_{rms}^2)} = 11.6 \pm 0.6$ mK, nearly one order of magnitude below than in the Galactic Plane. Extrapolations to frequencies of interest for cosmological investigations suggest that polarized synchrotron foreground noise should allow the detection of the CMB Polarization $E$--mode already at 32 GHz and make us confident that, at 90 GHz, it is accessible with no relevant foreground contamination. Last but not least, even the $B$--mode detection for $T/S > 0.01$ is not ruled out in such a low emission patch.

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arXiv2003

A New approach for a Galactic Synchrotron Polarized Emission Template in the Microwave Range

We present a new approach in modelling the polarized Galactic synchrotron emission in the microwave range (20-100 GHz), where this radiation is expected to play the leading role in contaminating the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data. Our method is based on real surveys and aims at providing the real spatial distributions of both polarized intensity and polarization angles. Its main features are the modelling of a polarization horizon to determine the polarized intensity and the use of starlight optical data to model the polarization angle pattern. Our results are consistent with several existing data, and our template is virtually free from Faraday rotation effects as required at frequencies in the cosmological window.

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arXiv2003

The BaR-SPOrt Experiment

BaR-SPOrt (Balloon-borne Radiometers for Sky Polarisation Observations) is an experiment to measure the linearly polarized emission of sky patches at 32 and 90 GHz with sub-degree angular resolution. It is equipped with high sensitivity correlation polarimeters for simultaneous detection of both the U and Q stokes parameters of the incident radiation. On-axis telescope is used to observe angular scales where the expected polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMBP) peaks. This project shares most of the know-how and sophisticated technology developed for the SPOrt experiment onboard the International Space Station. The payload is designed to flight onboard long duration stratospheric balloons both in the Northern and Southern hemispheres where low foreground emission sky patches are accessible. Due to the weakness of the expected CMBP signal (in the range of microK), much care has been spent to optimize the instrument design with respect to the systematics generation, observing time efficiency and long term stability. In this contribution we present the instrument design, and first tests on some components of the 32 GHz radiometer.

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arXiv2002

SPOrt: an Experiment Aimed at Measuring the Large Scale Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization

SPOrt (Sky Polarization Observatory) is a space experiment to be flown on the International Space Station during Early Utilization Phase aimed at measuring the microwave polarized emission with FWHM = 7deg, in the frequency range 22-90 GHz. The Galactic polarized emission can be observed at the lower frequencies and the polarization of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at 90 GHz, where contaminants are expected to be less important. The extremely low level of the CMB Polarization signal (< 1 uK) calls for intrinsically stable radiometers. The SPOrt instrument is expressly devoted to CMB polarization measurements and the whole design has been optimized for minimizing instrumental polarization effects. In this contribution we present the receiver architecture based on correlation techniques, the analysis showing its intrinsic stability and the custom hardware development carried out to detect such a low signal.

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