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Makoto Hattori

Publications and source records attributed to Makoto Hattori.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

GroundBIRD: First On-Sky Responsivity Calibration at the Teide Observatory

GroundBIRD is a cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment located at the Teide Observatory (altitude $\sim2400$ m, Spain) designed to measure large-angular-scale intensity and polarization anisotropies ($\ell \gtrsim 6$ to $\ell \sim 300$) to constrain the reionization optical depth, $τ$. The instrument employs a rapidly rotating telescope with a fixed elevation of $70$ deg and is equipped with 161 lenslet-coupled kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs): 138 at 145 GHz for CMB observations and 23 at 220 GHz for thermal dust characterization, all operated at $\sim280$ mK. This scan strategy provides daily coverage of $\sim$40% of the Northern Hemisphere sky. We present the first on-sky responsivity calibration model for GroundBIRD, derived from repeated observations of Jupiter using the twelve most stable KIDs from GroundBIRD array 6 (GB06). The analysis establishes and validates a calibration methodology for this detector subset while providing the first empirical characterization of detector responsivity as a function of precipitable water vapor (PWV). We find that the responsivity decreases by approximately 30% across the sampled PWV range and is well described by a linear PWV-dependent model. Comparison with Moon observations reveals distinct detector operating regimes associated with different optical loading conditions. The Jupiter-based calibration achieves better than 20% precision under typical observing conditions and better than 20% relative stability over a one-month timescale. These results establish the basis for extending the calibration methodology to the full GroundBIRD focal plane.

astro-ph.IM↗

Optimization procedure of the baffle of the GroundBIRD Telescope to mitigate stray light

We presented the optimization procedures of the baffle mounted on the GroundBIRD telescope for measuring the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background~(CMB). The telescope employs dual mirror reflective telescopes installed in a cryostat. The primary objectives were to minimize stray light contamination, maintain the integrity of the main beam, and ensure that thermal loading from the baffle remains significantly below that from the atmosphere. Using quasi-optical simulations, we have optimized the baffle's aperture angle to suppress stray light without degrading the main beam quality. We confirmed through Moon observations that the optimized baffle design works to eliminate the contamination of the stray light as expected. Furthermore, no measurable degradation in the noise equivalent temperature~(NET) was detected, indicating minimal thermal impact. These results show that our baffle optimization strategy effectively reduces systematic errors while maintaining observational sensitivity, providing valuable insights for future CMB experiments with similar optical architectures.

astro-ph.IM↗

GroundBIRD Telescope: Systematics Modelization of MKID Arrays Response

Kinetic inductance detectors are widely used in millimeter- and submillimeter-wave astronomy, benefiting from their fast response and relative ease of fabrication. The GroundBIRD telescope employs microwave kinetic inductance detectors at 145 and 220 GHz to observe the cosmic microwave background. As a ground-based telescope, it is subject to inherent environmental systematics, namely atmospheric emission and thermal fluctuations of the focal plane temperature. This study models resonance frequency shifts induced by each source using calibrated on-site measurements of precipitable water vapor and temperature. Comparison with observational data confirms the validity of the models and identifies atmospheric loading as the dominant contributor to frequency variation under typical observation conditions.

astro-ph.IM↗

Commissioning the CMB polarization telescope GroundBIRD with the full set of detectors

GroundBIRD is a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment for observing the polarization pattern imprinted on large angular scales ($\ell > 6$ ) from the Teide Observatory in Tenerife, Spain. Our primary scientific objective is a precise measurement of the optical depth $τ$ ($σ(τ) \sim 0.01$) to the reionization epoch of the Universe to cross-check systematic effects in the measurements made by previous experiments. GroundBIRD observes a wide sky area in the Northern Hemisphere ($\sim 40\%$ of the full sky) while continuously rotating the telescope at a high speed of up to 20 rotations per minute (rpm) to overcome the fluctuations of atmospheric radiation. We have adopted the NbTiN/Al hybrid microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) as focal plane detectors. We observe two frequency bands centered at 145 GHz and 220 GHz. The 145 GHz band picks up the peak frequency of the CMB spectrum. The 220 GHz band helps accurate removal of the contamination of thermal emission from the Galactic interstellar dust. The MKID arrays (138 MKIDs for 145GHz and 23 MKIDs for 220GHz) were designed and optimized so as to minimize the contamination of the two-level-system noise and maximize the sensitivity. The MKID arrays were successfully installed in May 2023 after the performance verification tests were performed at a laboratory. GroundBIRD has been upgraded to use the full MKID arrays, and scientific observations are now underway. The telescope is automated, so that all observations are performed remotely. Initial validations, including polarization response tests and observations of Jupiter and the moon, have been completed successfully. We are now running scientific observations.

astro-ph.IM↗

Cosmic very small dust grains as a natural laboratory of mesoscopic physics: Modeling thermal and optical properties of graphite grains

Cosmic very small dust grains (VSGs) contain 100 to 10,000 atoms, making it a mesoscopic system with specific thermal and optical characteristics due to the finite number of atoms within each grain. This paper focuses on graphite VSGs which contain free electrons. The energy level statistics devised by Kubo (1962, J.Phys.Soc.Jpn., 17, 975-986) were used for the first time to understand the thermal properties of free electrons in graphite VSGs. We showed that the shape irregularity of the grains allows graphite VSGs to absorb or emit photons at sub-millimeter wavelengths or longer; otherwise, the frequency is limited to above a few THz. Additionally, we considered the decrease in Debye temperature due to the surface effect. VSGs have an extremely small volume, resulting in limited thermal energy storage, especially at low temperatures. Since a VSG is able to emit a photon with energy smaller than its internal energy, this determines the maximum frequency of the emitted photon. We developed a Monte-Carlo simulation code to track the thermal history of a dust grain, considering the stochastic heating from the absorption of ambient photons and radiative cooling. This approach was applied to the interstellar environment to compute the spectral energy distributions from the interstellar graphite dust grains. The results showed that graphite VSGs emit not only the mid-infrared excess emission, but also a surplus emission from sub-millimeter to millimeter wavelengths.

astro-ph.GA↗

Asymmetric Warm Dark Matter: from Cosmological Asymmetry to Chirality of Life

We investigate a novel scenario involving asymmetric keV-range dark matter (DM) in the form of right-handed (sterile) neutrinos. Based on the Fermi-Dirac distribution, we demonstrate that asymmetric fermionic DM forms a Fermi degenerate gas, making it potentially colder than symmetric fermionic DM. This setup simultaneously accounts for the Universe's baryon asymmetry through tiny Yukawa interactions with Standard Model leptons and the Higgs field, and the homochirality of amino acids via decay into circularly polarized photons. This scenario can be investigated through soft X-ray searches conducted by current and upcoming space missions. The helical X-rays is a smoking-gun signal of our scenario. Additionally, we propose a new mechanism to suppress DM thermal production by introducing a light modulus, which may also benefit cosmology involving generic right-handed neutrinos with large mixing.

hep-ph↗

Dual-Arm Construction Robot for Automatic Fixation of Structural Parts to Concrete Surfaces in Narrow Environments

Fixation of structural parts to concrete is a repetitive, heavy-duty, and time-consuming task that requires automation due to the lack of skilled construction workers. Previously developed automation techniques have not achieved the complete fixation of structural parts and are difficult to implement in narrow construction environments. In this study, we propose a construction robot system that enables the complete installation of structural parts to concrete and can be easily introduced to unstructured and narrow construction environments. The system includes two arms that simultaneously position and fix the structural parts, and custom tools that reduce the reaction force applied to the robots so that smaller robots can be used with lower payloads. Due to the modular design of the proposed system, it can be transported in parts for easy introduction to the construction environment. We also propose a procedure for fixing structural parts. Experimental results demonstrate that the custom tools make it possible to use smaller robots without moment overload in the robot joints. Moreover, the results show that the proposed robot system and fixation procedure enable automatic fixation of a structural part to concrete.

cs.RO↗

Mitigating Cosmic Microwave Background Shadow Degradation of Tensor-to-scalar Ratio Measurements through Map-based Studies

It has been pointed out that the spurious Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) B-mode polarization signals caused by the absorption of the CMB monopole component due to the Galactic interstellar matter, called the CMB shadow, degrade the accuracy of detecting the CMB B-mode polarization signals imprinted by primordial gravitational waves. We have made a realistic estimation using simulated sky maps of how the CMB shadow affects forthcoming high-precision CMB B-mode experiments for the first time. The Delta-map method, an internal template method taking into account the first-order spatial variation of foregrounds' spectral parameters, is applied as a foreground removal method. We show that if the CMB shadow effects are not taken into account in the foreground removal process, future observations would lead to the false detection of the CMB B-mode polarization signals originating from primordial gravitational waves. We also show that the effect of the CMB shadow can be mitigated by our revised Delta-map method to target the CMB B-mode polarization signals at the level of tensor-to-scalar ratio r=0.001.

astro-ph.CO↗

The Simons Observatory: Metamaterial Microwave Absorber (MMA) and its Cryogenic Applications

Controlling stray light at millimeter wavelengths requires special optical design and selection of absorptive materials that should be compatible with cryogenic operating environments. While a wide selection of absorptive materials exists, these typically exhibit high indices of refraction and reflect/scatter a significant fraction of light before absorption. For many lower index materials such as commercial microwave absorbers, their applications in cryogenic environments are challenging. In this paper, we present a new tool to control stray light: metamaterial microwave absorber tiles. These tiles comprise an outer metamaterial layer that approximates a lossy gradient index anti-reflection coating. They are fabricated via injection molding commercially available carbon-loaded polyurethane (25\% by mass). The injection molding technology enables mass production at low cost. The design of these tiles is presented, along with thermal tests to 1 K. Room temperature optical measurements verify their control of reflectance to less than 1\% up to 65$\circ$ angles of incidence, and control of wide angle scattering below 0.01\%. The dielectric properties of the bulk carbon-loaded material used in the tiles is also measured at different temperatures, confirming that the material maintains similar dielectric properties down to 3 K.

astro-ph.IM↗

Simons Observatory Small Aperture Telescope overview

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment from the Atacama Desert in Chile comprising three small-aperture telescopes (SATs) and one large-aperture telescope (LAT). In total, SO will field over 60,000 transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers in six spectral bands centered between 27 and 280 GHz in order to achieve the sensitivity necessary to measure or constrain numerous cosmological quantities. In this work, we focus on the SATs which are optimized to search for primordial gravitational waves that are detected as parity-odd polarization patterns called a B-modes on degree scales in the CMB. Each SAT employs a single optics tube with TES arrays operating at 100 mK. The high throughput optics system has a 42 cm aperture and a 35-degree field of view coupled to a 36 cm diameter focal plane. The optics consist of three metamaterial anti-re ection coated silicon lenses. Cryogenic ring baffles with engineered blackbody absorbers are installed in the optics tube to minimize the stray light. The entire optics tube is cooled to 1 K. A cryogenic continuously rotating half-wave plate near the sky side of the aperture stop helps to minimize the effect of atmospheric uctuations. The telescope warm baffling consists of a forebaffle, an elevation stage mounted co-moving shield, and a fixed ground shield that together control the far side-lobes and mitigates ground-synchronous systematics. We present the status of the SAT development.

astro-ph.IM↗

GroundBIRD : A CMB polarization experiment with MKID arrays

GroundBIRD is a ground-based experiment for the precise observation of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). To achieve high sensitivity at large angular scale, we adopt three features in this experiment: fast rotation scanning, microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID) and cold optics. The rotation scanning strategy has the advantage to suppress $1/f$ noise. It also provides a large sky coverage of 40\%, which corresponds to the large angular scales of $l \sim 6$. This allows us to constrain the tensor-to-scalar ratio by using low $l$ B-mode spectrum. The focal plane consists of 7 MKID arrays for two target frequencies, 145 GHz and 220 GHz band. There are 161 pixels in total, of which 138 are for 144 GHz and 23 are for 220 GHz. This array is currently under development and the prototype will soon be evaluated in telescope. The GroundBIRD telescope will observe the CMB at the Teide observatory. The telescope was moved from Japan to Tenerife and is now under test. We present the status and plan of the GroundBIRD experiment.

astro-ph.IM↗

A method to measure superconducting transition temperature of microwave kinetic inductance detector by changing power of readout microwaves

A microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID) is a cutting-edge superconducting detector, and its principle is based on a superconducting resonator circuit. The superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of the MKID is an important parameter because various MKID characterization parameters depend on it. In this paper, we propose a method to measure the Tc of the MKID by changing the applied power of the readout microwaves. A small fraction of the readout power is deposited in the MKID, and the number of quasiparticles in the MKID increases with this power. Furthermore, the quasiparticle lifetime decreases with the number of quasiparticles. Therefore, we can measure the relation between the quasiparticle lifetime and the detector response by rapidly varying the readout power. From this relation, we estimate the intrinsic quasiparticle lifetime. This lifetime is theoretically modeled by Tc, the physical temperature of the MKID device, and other known parameters. We obtain Tc by comparing the measured lifetime with that acquired using the theoretical model. Using an MKID fabricated with aluminum, we demonstrate this method at a 0.3 K operation. The results are consistent with those obtained by Tc measured by monitoring the transmittance of the readout microwaves with the variation in the device temperature. The method proposed in this paper is applicable to other types, such as a hybrid-type MKID.

physics.ins-det↗

CMB Shadows: The Effect of Interstellar Extinction on Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization and Temperature Anisotropy

We evaluate the degradation of the accuracy of the component separation between the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and foreground components caused by neglect of absorption of the monopole component of the CMB by the galactic interstellar matter. The amplitude of the temperature anisotropy caused by the CMB shadow, due to dust components, is about 1 uK. This value is comparable to the required noise level necessary to probe non-Gaussianity studies with upcoming CMB experiments. In addition, the amplitude of the polarization caused by the CMB shadow due to dust is comparable to or larger than the RMS value of the CMB B-mode polarization, imprinted by primordial gravitational waves. We show that applying a single-power law model as the dust spectrum to observed multifrequency data introduces systematic errors, which are comparable to or larger than the required noise level for forthcoming CMB B-mode polarization experiments. Deducing the intrinsic spectrum of dust emission from the submillimeter waveband data reduces systematic error below the required noise level. However, this method requires dust temperature measurements with an accuracy of better than a few percent. We conclude that the CMB shadow due to dust must be considered in future CMB missions for achieving their targeted sensitivity. Our results will be important to detect the primordial CMB B-mode polarization, with the amplitude of the tensor-to-scalar ratio of r=10^{-3}.

astro-ph.CO↗

Thermal emission from the amorphous dust: An alternative possibility of the origin of the anomalous microwave emission

Complete studies of the radiative processes of thermal emission from the amorphous dust from microwave through far infrared wavebands are presented by taking into account, self-consistently for the first time, the standard two-level systems (TLS) model of amorphous materials. The observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for the Perseus molecular cloud (MC) and W43 from microwave through far infrared are fitted with the SEDs calculated with the TLS model of amorphous silicate. We have found that the model SEDs well reproduce the observed properties of the anomalous microwave emission (AME). The present result suggests an alternative interpretation for the AME being carried by the resonance emission of the TLS of amorphous materials without introducing new species. Simultaneous fitting of the intensity and polarization SEDs for the Perseus MC and W43 are also performed. The amorphous model reproduces the overall observed feature of the intensity and polarization SEDs of the Perseus MC and W43. However, the model's predicted polarization fraction of the AME is slightly higher than the QUIJOTE upper limits in several frequency bands. A possible improvement of our model to resolve this problem is proposed. Our model predicts that interstellar dust is amorphous materials having very different physical characteristics compared with terrestrial amorphous materials.

astro-ph.GA↗

A measurement method for responsivity of microwave kinetic inductance detector by changing power of readout microwaves

Superconducting detectors are a modern technology applied in various fields. The microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID) is one of cutting-edge superconducting detector. It is based on the principle of a superconducting resonator circuit. A radiation entering the MKID breaks the Cooper pairs in the superconducting resonator, and the intensity of the radiation is detected as a variation of the resonant condition. Therefore, calibration of the detector responsivity, i.e., the variation of the resonant phase with respect to the number of Cooper-pair breaks (quasiparticles), is important. We propose a method for responsivity calibration. Microwaves used for the detector readout locally raise the temperature in each resonator, which increases the number of quasiparticles. Since the magnitude of the temperature rise depends on the power of readout microwaves, the number of quasiparticles also depends on the power of microwaves. By changing the power of the readout microwaves, we simultaneously measure the phase difference and lifetime of quasiparticles. We calculate the number of quasiparticles from the measured lifetime and by using a theoretical formula. This measurement yields a relation between the phase response as a function of the number of quasiparticles. We demonstrate this responsivity calibration using the MKID maintained at 285mK. We also confirm consistency between the results obtained using this method and conventional calibration methods in terms of the accuracy.

astro-ph.IM↗

The Simons Observatory: Science goals and forecasts

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a new cosmic microwave background experiment being built on Cerro Toco in Chile, due to begin observations in the early 2020s. We describe the scientific goals of the experiment, motivate the design, and forecast its performance. SO will measure the temperature and polarization anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background in six frequency bands: 27, 39, 93, 145, 225 and 280 GHz. The initial configuration of SO will have three small-aperture 0.5-m telescopes (SATs) and one large-aperture 6-m telescope (LAT), with a total of 60,000 cryogenic bolometers. Our key science goals are to characterize the primordial perturbations, measure the number of relativistic species and the mass of neutrinos, test for deviations from a cosmological constant, improve our understanding of galaxy evolution, and constrain the duration of reionization. The SATs will target the largest angular scales observable from Chile, mapping ~10% of the sky to a white noise level of 2 $μ$K-arcmin in combined 93 and 145 GHz bands, to measure the primordial tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r$, at a target level of $σ(r)=0.003$. The LAT will map ~40% of the sky at arcminute angular resolution to an expected white noise level of 6 $μ$K-arcmin in combined 93 and 145 GHz bands, overlapping with the majority of the LSST sky region and partially with DESI. With up to an order of magnitude lower polarization noise than maps from the Planck satellite, the high-resolution sky maps will constrain cosmological parameters derived from the damping tail, gravitational lensing of the microwave background, the primordial bispectrum, and the thermal and kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects, and will aid in delensing the large-angle polarization signal to measure the tensor-to-scalar ratio. The survey will also provide a legacy catalog of 16,000 galaxy clusters and more than 20,000 extragalactic sources.

astro-ph.CO↗

Theory of the Jitter radiation in a magnetized plasma accompanying temperature gradient

The linear stability of a magnetized plasma accompanying temperature gradient was reexamined by using plasma kinetic theory. The anisotropic velocity distribution function was decomposed into two components. One is proportional to the temperature gradient parallel to and the other is proportional to the temperature gradient perpendicular to the back ground magnetic field. Since the amplitude of the anisotropic velocity distribution function is proportional to the heat conductivity and the heat conductivities perpendicular to the magnetic field is strongly reduced, the first component of the anisotropic velocity distribution function is predominant. The anisotropic velocity distribution function induced by the temperature gradient along the back ground magnetic field drives plasma kinetic instability and the circular polarized magnetic plasma waves are excited. The instability is almost identical to Weibel instability in weakly magnetized plasma. However, depending on whether wave vectors of modes are parallel to or antiparallel to the back ground magnetic field, the growth rate is suppressed or enhanced due to back ground magnetic field. In the strongly magnetized plasma, one mode is stabilized and only one of the modes remains unstable. The Jitter radiation spectrum formulae emitted by relativistic electrons when they travel through the magnetized plasma with the plasma waves driven by the instability, are deduced at the first time. The synchrotron emission and the Jitter radiation are simultaneously emitted from the same relativistic electron. The Jitter radiation is expected to be circularly polarized but with a very small polarization degree since almost the same amount of left and right handed circular polarized magnetic waves are excited by the instability.

astro-ph.HE↗

The $AKARI$ Far-Infrared All-Sky Survey Maps

We present a far-infrared all-sky atlas from a sensitive all-sky survey using the Japanese $AKARI$ satellite. The survey covers $> 99$% of the sky in four photometric bands centred at 65 $μ$m, 90 $μ$m, 140 $μ$m, and 160 $μ$m with spatial resolutions ranging from 1 to 1.5 arcmin. These data provide crucial information for the investigation and characterisation of the properties of dusty material in the Interstellar Medium (ISM), since significant portion of its energy is emitted between $\sim$50 and 200 $μ$m. The large-scale distribution of interstellar clouds, their thermal dust temperatures and column densities, can be investigated with the improved spatial resolution compared to earlier all-sky survey observations. In addition to the point source distribution, the large-scale distribution of ISM cirrus emission, and its filamentary structure, are well traced. We have made the first public release of the full-sky data to provide a legacy data set for use by the astronomical community.

astro-ph.GA↗