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J. M. Kovac

Publications and source records attributed to J. M. Kovac.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

BICEP2 / Keck Array VIII: Measurement of gravitational lensing from large-scale B-mode polarization

We present measurements of polarization lensing using the 150 GHz maps which include all data taken by the BICEP2 & Keck Array CMB polarization experiments up to and including the 2014 observing season (BK14). Despite their modest angular resolution ($\sim 0.5^\circ$), the excellent sensitivity ($\sim 3μ$K-arcmin) of these maps makes it possible to directly reconstruct the lensing potential using only information at larger angular scales ($\ell\leq 700$). From the auto-spectrum of the reconstructed potential we measure an amplitude of the spectrum to be $A^{ϕϕ}_{\rm L}=1.15\pm 0.36$ (Planck $Λ$CDM prediction corresponds to $A^{ϕϕ}_{\rm L}=1$), and reject the no-lensing hypothesis at 5.8$σ$, which is the highest significance achieved to date using an EB lensing estimator. Taking the cross-spectrum of the reconstructed potential with the Planck 2015 lensing map yields $A^{ϕϕ}_{\rm L}=1.13\pm 0.20$. These direct measurements of $A^{ϕϕ}_{\rm L}$ are consistent with the $Λ$CDM cosmology, and with that derived from the previously reported BK14 B-mode auto-spectrum ($A^{\rm BB}_{\rm L}=1.20\pm 0.17$). We perform a series of null tests and consistency checks to show that these results are robust against systematics and are insensitive to analysis choices. These results unambiguously demonstrate that the B-modes previously reported by BICEP / Keck at intermediate angular scales ($150\lesssim\ell\lesssim 350$) are dominated by gravitational lensing. The good agreement between the lensing amplitudes obtained from the lensing reconstruction and B-mode spectrum starts to place constraints on any alternative cosmological sources of B-modes at these angular scales.

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BICEP2 / Keck Array VI: Improved Constraints On Cosmology and Foregrounds When Adding 95 GHz Data From Keck Array

We present results from an analysis of all data taken by the BICEP2 & Keck Array CMB polarization experiments up to and including the 2014 observing season. This includes the first Keck Array observations at 95 GHz. The maps reach a depth of 50 nK deg in Stokes $Q$ and $U$ in the 150 GHz band and 127 nK deg in the 95 GHz band. We take auto- and cross-spectra between these maps and publicly available maps from WMAP and Planck at frequencies from 23 GHz to 353 GHz. An excess over lensed-LCDM is detected at modest significance in the 95x150 $BB$ spectrum, and is consistent with the dust contribution expected from our previous work. No significant evidence for synchrotron emission is found in spectra such as 23x95, or for correlation between the dust and synchrotron sky patterns in spectra such as 23x353. We take the likelihood of all the spectra for a multi-component model including lensed-LCDM, dust, synchrotron and a possible contribution from inflationary gravitational waves (as parametrized by the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$), using priors on the frequency spectral behaviors of dust and synchrotron emission from previous analyses of WMAP and Planck data in other regions of the sky. This analysis yields an upper limit $r_{0.05}<0.09$ at 95% confidence, which is robust to variations explored in analysis and priors. Combining these $B$-mode results with the (more model-dependent) constraints from Planck analysis of CMB temperature plus BAO and other data, yields a combined limit $r_{0.05}<0.07$ at 95% confidence. These are the strongest constraints to date on inflationary gravitational waves.

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Initial Performance of BICEP3: A Degree Angular Scale 95 GHz Band Polarimeter

BICEP3 is a $550~mm$ aperture telescope with cold, on-axis, refractive optics designed to observe at the $95~GHz$ band from the South Pole. It is the newest member of the BICEP/Keck family of inflationary probes specifically designed to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at degree-angular scales. BICEP3 is designed to house 1280 dual-polarization pixels, which, when fully-populated, totals to $\sim$9$\times$ the number of pixels in a single Keck $95~GHz$ receiver, thus further advancing the BICEP/Keck program's $95~GHz$ mapping speed. BICEP3 was deployed during the austral summer of 2014-2015 with 9 detector tiles, to be increased to its full capacity of 20 in the second season. After instrument characterization measurements were taken, CMB observation commenced in April 2015. Together with multi-frequency observation data from Planck, BICEP2, and the Keck Array, BICEP3 is projected to set upper limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio to $r$ $\lesssim 0.03$ at $95\%$ C.L..

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BICEP2 III: Instrumental Systematics

In a companion paper we have reported a $>5σ$ detection of degree scale $B $-mode polarization at 150 GHz by the BICEP2 experiment. Here we provide a detailed study of potential instrumental systematic contamination to that measurement. We focus extensively on spurious polarization that can potentially arise from beam imperfections. We present a heuristic classification of beam imperfections according to their symmetries and uniformities, and discuss how resulting contamination adds or cancels in maps that combine observations made at multiple orientations of the telescope about its boresight axis. We introduce a technique, which we call "deprojection", for filtering the leading order beam-induced contamination from time ordered data, and show that it removes power from BICEP2's $BB$ spectrum consistent with predictions using high signal-to-noise beam shape measurements. We detail the simulation pipeline that we use to directly simulate instrumental systematics and the calibration data used as input to that pipeline. Finally, we present the constraints on $BB$ contamination from individual sources of potential systematics. We find that systematics contribute $BB$ power that is a factor $\sim10\times$ below BICEP2's 3-year statistical uncertainty, and negligible compared to the observed $BB$ signal. The contribution to the best-fit tensor/scalar ratio is at a level equivalent to $r=(3-6)\times10^{-3}$.

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An in situ measurement of the radio-frequency attenuation in ice at Summit Station, Greenland

We report an in situ measurement of the electric field attenuation length at radio frequencies for the bulk ice at Summit Station, Greenland, made by broadcasting radio-frequency signals vertically through the ice and measuring the relative power in the return ground bounce signal. We find the depth-averaged field attenuation length to be 947 +92/-85 meters at 75 MHz. While this measurement has clear radioglaciological applications, the radio clarity of the ice also has implications for the detection of ultra-high energy (UHE) astrophysical particles via their radio emission in dielectric media such as ice. Assuming a reliable extrapolation to higher frequencies, the measured attenuation length at Summit Station is comparable to previously measured radio-frequency attenuation lengths at candidate particle detector sites around the world, and strengthens the case for Summit Station as a promising northern site for UHE neutrino detection.

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BICEP2 / Keck Array V: Measurements of B-mode Polarization at Degree Angular Scales and 150 GHz by the Keck Array

The Keck Array is a system of cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarimeters, each similar to the BICEP2 experiment. In this paper we report results from the 2012 and 2013 observing seasons, during which the Keck Array consisted of five receivers all operating in the same (150 GHz) frequency band and observing field as BICEP2. We again find an excess of B-mode power over the lensed-$Λ$CDM expectation of $> 5 σ$ in the range $30 < \ell < 150$ and confirm that this is not due to systematics using jackknife tests and simulations based on detailed calibration measurements. In map difference and spectral difference tests these new data are shown to be consistent with BICEP2. Finally, we combine the maps from the two experiments to produce final Q and U maps which have a depth of 57 nK deg (3.4 $μ$K arcmin) over an effective area of 400 deg$^2$ for an equivalent survey weight of 250,000 $μ$K$^{-2}$. The final BB band powers have noise uncertainty a factor of 2.3 times better than the previous results, and a significance of detection of excess power of $> 6σ$.

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BICEP2/Keck Array IV: Optical Characterization and Performance of the BICEP2 and Keck Array Experiments

BICEP2 and the Keck Array are polarization-sensitive microwave telescopes that observe the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from the South Pole at degree angular scales in search of a signature of inflation imprinted as B-mode polarization in the CMB. BICEP2 was deployed in late 2009, observed for three years until the end of 2012 at 150 GHz with 512 antenna-coupled transition edge sensor bolometers, and has reported a detection of B-mode polarization on degree angular scales. The Keck Array was first deployed in late 2010 and will observe through 2016 with five receivers at several frequencies (95, 150, and 220 GHz). BICEP2 and the Keck Array share a common optical design and employ the field-proven BICEP1 strategy of using small-aperture, cold, on-axis refractive optics, providing excellent control of systematics while maintaining a large field of view. This design allows for full characterization of far-field optical performance using microwave sources on the ground. Here we describe the optical design of both instruments and report a full characterization of the optical performance and beams of BICEP2 and the Keck Array at 150 GHz.

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Degree-Scale CMB Polarization Measurements from Three Years of BICEP1 Data

BICEP1 is a millimeter-wavelength telescope designed specifically to measure the inflationary B-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at degree angular scales. We present results from an analysis of the data acquired during three seasons of observations at the South Pole (2006 to 2008). This work extends the two-year result published in Chiang et al. (2010), with additional data from the third season and relaxed detector-selection criteria. This analysis also introduces a more comprehensive estimation of band-power window functions, improved likelihood estimation methods and a new technique for deprojecting monopole temperature-to-polarization leakage which reduces this class of systematic uncertainty to a negligible level. We present maps of temperature, E- and B-mode polarization, and their associated angular power spectra. The improvement in the map noise level and polarization spectra error bars are consistent with the 52% increase in integration time relative to Chiang et al. (2010). We confirm both self-consistency of the polarization data and consistency with the two-year results. We measure the angular power spectra at 21 <= l <= 335 and find that the EE spectrum is consistent with Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) cosmology, with the first acoustic peak of the EE spectrum now detected at 15sigma. The BB spectrum remains consistent with zero. From B-modes only, we constrain the tensor-to-scalar ratio to r = 0.03+0.27-0.23, or r < 0.70 at 95% confidence level.

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Antenna-coupled TES bolometers used in BICEP2, Keck array, and SPIDER

We have developed antenna-coupled transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers for a wide range of cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarimetry experiments, including BICEP2, Keck Array, and the balloon borne SPIDER. These detectors have reached maturity and this paper reports on their design principles, overall performance, and key challenges associated with design and production. Our detector arrays repeatedly produce spectral bands with 20%-30% bandwidth at 95, 150, or 220~GHz. The integrated antenna arrays synthesize symmetric co-aligned beams with controlled side-lobe levels. Cross-polarized response on boresight is typically ~0.5%, consistent with cross-talk in our multiplexed readout system. End-to-end optical efficiencies in our cameras are routinely 35% or higher, with per detector sensitivities of NET~300 uKrts. Thanks to the scalability of this design, we have deployed 2560 detectors as 1280 matched pairs in Keck Array with a combined instantaneous sensitivity of ~9 uKrts, as measured directly from CMB maps in the 2013 season. Similar arrays have recently flown in the SPIDER instrument, and development of this technology is ongoing.

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BICEP2 II: Experiment and Three-Year Data Set

We report on the design and performance of the BICEP2 instrument and on its three-year data set. BICEP2 was designed to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) on angular scales of 1 to 5 degrees ($\ell$=40-200), near the expected peak of the B-mode polarization signature of primordial gravitational waves from cosmic inflation. Measuring B-modes requires dramatic improvements in sensitivity combined with exquisite control of systematics. The BICEP2 telescope observed from the South Pole with a 26~cm aperture and cold, on-axis, refractive optics. BICEP2 also adopted a new detector design in which beam-defining slot antenna arrays couple to transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers, all fabricated on a common substrate. The antenna-coupled TES detectors supported scalable fabrication and multiplexed readout that allowed BICEP2 to achieve a high detector count of 500 bolometers at 150 GHz, giving unprecedented sensitivity to B-modes at degree angular scales. After optimization of detector and readout parameters, BICEP2 achieved an instrument noise-equivalent temperature of 15.8 $μ$K sqrt(s). The full data set reached Stokes Q and U map depths of 87.2 nK in square-degree pixels (5.2 $μ$K arcmin) over an effective area of 384 square degrees within a 1000 square degree field. These are the deepest CMB polarization maps at degree angular scales to date. The power spectrum analysis presented in a companion paper has resulted in a significant detection of B-mode polarization at degree scales.

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BICEP3: a 95 GHz refracting telescope for degree-scale CMB polarization

BICEP3 is a 550 mm-aperture refracting telescope for polarimetry of radiation in the cosmic microwave background at 95 GHz. It adopts the methodology of BICEP1, BICEP2 and the Keck Array experiments - it possesses sufficient resolution to search for signatures of the inflation-induced cosmic gravitational-wave background while utilizing a compact design for ease of construction and to facilitate the characterization and mitigation of systematics. However, BICEP3 represents a significant breakthrough in per-receiver sensitivity, with a focal plane area 5$\times$ larger than a BICEP2/Keck Array receiver and faster optics ($f/1.6$ vs. $f/2.4$). Large-aperture infrared-reflective metal-mesh filters and infrared-absorptive cold alumina filters and lenses were developed and implemented for its optics. The camera consists of 1280 dual-polarization pixels; each is a pair of orthogonal antenna arrays coupled to transition-edge sensor bolometers and read out by multiplexed SQUIDs. Upon deployment at the South Pole during the 2014-15 season, BICEP3 will have survey speed comparable to Keck Array 150 GHz (2013), and will significantly enhance spectral separation of primordial B-mode power from that of possible galactic dust contamination in the BICEP2 observation patch.

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BICEP2 I: Detection Of B-mode Polarization at Degree Angular Scales

(abridged for arXiv) We report results from the BICEP2 experiment, a cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarimeter specifically designed to search for the signal of inflationary gravitational waves in the B-mode power spectrum around $\ell\sim80$. The telescope comprised a 26 cm aperture all-cold refracting optical system equipped with a focal plane of 512 antenna coupled transition edge sensor 150 GHz bolometers each with temperature sensitivity of $\approx300μ\mathrm{K}_\mathrm{CMB}\sqrt{s}$. BICEP2 observed from the South Pole for three seasons from 2010 to 2012. A low-foreground region of sky with an effective area of 380 square deg was observed to a depth of 87 nK deg in Stokes $Q$ and $U$. We find an excess of $B$-mode power over the base lensed-LCDM expectation in the range $30< \ell< 150$, inconsistent with the null hypothesis at a significance of $> 5σ$. Through jackknife tests and simulations we show that systematic contamination is much smaller than the observed excess. We also examine a number of available models of polarized dust emission and find that at their default parameter values they predict power $\sim(5-10)\times$ smaller than the observed excess signal. However, these models are not sufficiently constrained to exclude the possibility of dust emission bright enough to explain the entire excess signal. Cross correlating BICEP2 against 100 GHz maps from the BICEP1 experiment, the excess signal is confirmed and its spectral index is found to be consistent with that of the CMB, disfavoring dust at $1.7σ$. The observed $B$-mode power spectrum is well fit by a lensed-LCDM + tensor theoretical model with tensor-to-scalar ratio $r=0.20^{+0.07}_{-0.05}$, with $r=0$ disfavored at $7.0σ$. Accounting for the contribution of foreground dust will shift this value downward by an amount which will be better constrained with upcoming data sets.

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Self-Calibration of BICEP1 Three-Year Data and Constraints on Astrophysical Polarization Rotation

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarimeters aspire to measure the faint $B$-mode signature predicted to arise from inflationary gravitational waves. They also have the potential to constrain cosmic birefringence which would produce non-zero expectation values for the CMB's $TB$ and $EB$ spectra. However, instrumental systematic effects can also cause these $TB$ and $EB$ correlations to be non-zero. In particular, an overall miscalibration of the polarization orientation of the detectors produces $TB$ and $EB$ spectra which are degenerate with isotropic cosmological birefringence, while also introducing a small but predictable bias on the $BB$ spectrum. The \bicep three-year spectra, which use our standard calibration of detector polarization angles from a dielectric sheet, are consistent with a polarization rotation of $α= -2.77^\circ \pm 0.86^\circ \text{(statistical)} \pm 1.3^\circ \text{(systematic)}$. We revise the estimate of systematic error on the polarization rotation angle from the two-year analysis by comparing multiple calibration methods. We investigate the polarization rotation for the \bicep 100 GHz and 150 GHz bands separately to investigate theoretical models that produce frequency-dependent cosmic birefringence. We find no evidence in the data supporting either these models or Faraday rotation of the CMB polarization by the Milky Way galaxy's magnetic field. If we assume that there is no cosmic birefringence, we can use the $TB$ and $EB$ spectra to calibrate detector polarization orientations, thus reducing bias of the cosmological $B$-mode spectrum from leaked $E$-modes due to possible polarization orientation miscalibration. After applying this "self-calibration" process, we find that the upper limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio decreases slightly, from $r<0.70$ to $r<0.65$ at $95\%$ confidence.

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Scientific verification of Faraday Rotation Modulators: Detection of diffuse polarized Galactic emission

The design and performance of a wide bandwidth linear polarization modulator based on the Faraday effect is described. Faraday Rotation Modulators (FRMs) are solid-state polarization switches that are capable of modulation up to ~10 kHz. Six FRMs were utilized during the 2006 observing season in the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization (BICEP) experiment; three FRMs were used at each of BICEP's 100 and 150 GHz frequency bands. The technology was verified through high signal-to-noise detection of Galactic polarization using two of the six FRMs during four observing runs in 2006. The features exhibit strong agreement with BICEP's measurements of the Galaxy using non-FRM pixels and with the Galactic polarization models. This marks the first detection of high signal-to-noise mm-wave celestial polarization using fast, active optical modulation. The performance of the FRMs during periods when they were not modulated was also analyzed and compared to results from BICEP's 43 pixels without FRMs.

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Antenna-coupled TES bolometers for the Keck Array, Spider, and Polar-1

Between the BICEP2 and Keck Array experiments, we have deployed over 1500 dual polarized antenna coupled bolometers to map the Cosmic Microwave Background's polarization. We have been able to rapidly deploy these detectors because they are completely planar with an integrated phased-array antenna. Through our experience in these experiments, we have learned of several challenges with this technology- specifically the beam synthesis in the antenna- and in this paper we report on how we have modified our designs to mitigate these challenges. In particular, we discus differential steering errors between the polarization pairs' beam centroids due to microstrip cross talk and gradients of penetration depth in the niobium thin films of our millimeter wave circuits. We also discuss how we have suppressed side lobe response with a Gaussian taper of our antenna illumination pattern. These improvements will be used in Spider, Polar-1, and this season's retrofit of Keck Array.

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BICEP2 and Keck Array operational overview and status of observations

The BICEP2 and Keck Array experiments are designed to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) on angular scales of 2-4 degrees (l=50-100). This is the region in which the B-mode signal, a signature prediction of cosmic inflation, is expected to peak. BICEP2 was deployed to the South Pole at the end of 2009 and is in the middle of its third year of observing with 500 polarization-sensitive detectors at 150 GHz. The Keck Array was deployed to the South Pole at the end of 2010, initially with three receivers--each similar to BICEP2. An additional two receivers have been added during the 2011-12 summer. We give an overview of the two experiments, report on substantial gains in the sensitivity of the two experiments after post-deployment optimization, and show preliminary maps of CMB polarization from BICEP2.

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Optical Characterization of the Keck Array Polarimeter at the South Pole

The Keck Array (SPUD) is a set of microwave polarimeters that observes from the South Pole at degree angular scales in search of a signature of Inflation imprinted as B-mode polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The first three Keck Array receivers were deployed during the 2010-2011 Austral summer, followed by two new receivers in the 2011-2012 summer season, completing the full five-receiver array. All five receivers are currently observing at 150 GHz. The Keck Array employs the field-proven BICEP/BICEP2 strategy of using small, cold, on-axis refractive optics, providing excellent control of systematics while maintaining a large field of view. This design allows for full characterization of far-field optical performance using microwave sources on the ground. We describe our efforts to characterize the main beam shape and beam shape mismatch between co-located orthogonally-polarized detector pairs, and discuss the implications of measured differential beam parameters on temperature to polarization leakage in CMB analysis.

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Optimization and sensitivity of the Keck Array

The Keck Array (SPUD) began observing the cosmic microwave background's polarization in the winter of 2011 at the South Pole. The Keck Array follows the success of the predecessor experiments Bicep and Bicep2, using five on-axis refracting telescopes. These have a combined imaging array of 2500 antenna-coupled TES bolometers read with a SQUID-based time domain multiplexing system. We will discuss the detector noise and the optimization of the readout. The achieved sensitivity of the Keck Array is 11.5 μK_(CMB)*sqrt{s} in the 2012 configuration.

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