118330157
Advanced simulation techniques for straylight prediction of high performance mm-wave reflecting telescope
The prediction of the antenna radiation pattern can be extremely complex for antenna system composed of several reflector surfaces. Typically, at mm-wavelengths, telescopes are composed of mirrors and shields, and an accurate prediction of the whole system response is therefore complicated. This is the case for the optical system of the ESA Planck mission. Planck represents the third generation of mm-wave instruments designed for space observations of CMB anisotropies over the whole sky, and has unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution. The Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) is one of the two instruments onboard the satellite. LFI consists of an array of 46 cooled HEMT-based receivers coupled to the 1.5 meter off-axis dual reflector telescope by an array of 23 dual profiled corrugated feed horns working at four frequencies between 30 and 100 GHz. Owing to the small level of CMB anisotropies, the control of the systematic effects is mandatory, and this is assured by means of a dedicated instrument design and by an accurate knowledge of instrument characteristics. The telescope is a source of systematic errors both in the main beam region (aberrations) and in the sidelobes region (straylight contamination) and efficient and accurate radiation pattern simulations of the telescope-feed system are needed. We report on the simulations of the full pattern applied to the Planck/LFI-Telescope system. These simulations, based on advanced GTD methods, are used to evaluate the straylight rejection of the entire optical system, by applying a new approach for evaluating the sidelobes in a rigorous way, even at very low levels.
13718662
Planck 2013 results. XXVI. Background geometry and topology of the Universe
Maps of cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization from the 2015 release of Planck data provide the highestquality full-sky view of the surface of last scattering available to date. This enables us to detect possible departures from a globally isotropic cosmology. We present the first searches using CMB polarization for correlations induced by a possible non-trivial topology with a fundamental domain that intersects, or nearly intersects, the last-scattering surface (at comoving distance χrec), both via a direct scan for matched circular patterns at the intersections and by an optimal likelihood calculation for specific topologies. We specialize to flat spaces with cubic toroidal (T3) and slab (T1) topologies, finding that explicit searches for the latter are sensitive to other topologies with antipodal symmetry. These searches yield no detection of a compact topology with a scale below the diameter of the last-scattering surface. The limits on the radius ℛi of the largest sphere inscribed in the fundamental domain (at log-likelihood ratio Δlnℒ > −5 relative to a simply-connected flat Planck best-fit model) are: ℛi > 0.97 χrec for the T3 cubic torus; and ℛi > 0.56 χrec for the T1 slab. The limit for the T3 cubic torus from the matched-circles search is numerically equivalent, ℛi > 0.97 χrec at 99% confidence level from polarization data alone. We also perform a Bayesian search for an anisotropic global Bianchi VIIh geometry. In the non-physical setting, where the Bianchi cosmology is decoupled from the standard cosmology, Planck temperature data favour the inclusion of a Bianchi component with a Bayes factor of at least 2.3 units of log-evidence. However, the cosmological parameters that generate this pattern are in strong disagreement with those found from CMB anisotropy data alone. Fitting the induced polarization pattern for this model to the Planck data requires an amplitude of −0.10 ± 0.04 compared to the value of + 1 if the model were to be correct. In the physically motivated setting, where the Bianchi parameters are coupled and fitted simultaneously with the standard cosmological parameters, we find no evidence for a Bianchi VIIh cosmology and constrain the vorticity of such models to (ω/H)0 < 7.6 × 10-10 (95% CL).
118418646
Off-line radiometric analysis of Planck-LFI data
The Planck Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) is an array of 22 pseudo-correlation radiometers on-board the Planck satellite to measure temperature and polarization anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) in three frequency bands (30, 44 and 70 GHz). To calibrate and verify the performances of the LFI, a software suite named LIFE has been developed. Its aims are to provide a common platform to use for analyzing the results of the tests performed on the single components of the instrument (RCAs, Radiometric Chain Assemblies) and on the integrated Radiometric Array Assembly (RAA). Moreover, its analysis tools are designed to be used during the flight as well to produce periodic reports on the status of the instrument. The LIFE suite has been developed using a multi-layered, cross-platform approach. It implements a number of analysis modules written in RSI IDL, each accessing the data through a portable and heavily optimized library of functions written in C and C++. One of the most important features of LIFE is its ability to run the same data analysis codes both using ground test data and real flight data as input. The LIFE software suite has been successfully used during the RCA/RAA tests and the Planck Integrated System Tests. Moreover, the software has also passed the verification for its in-flight use during the System Operations Verification Tests, held in October 2008.
119204724
Planck-LFI radiometers tuning
This paper describes the Planck Low Frequency Instrument tuning activities per- formed through the ground test campaigns, from Unit to Satellite Levels. Tuning is key to achieve the best possible instrument performance and tuning parameters strongly depend on thermal and electrical conditions. For this reason tuning has been repe ated several times during ground tests and it has been repeated in flight before starting nominal ope rations. The paper discusses the tuning philosophy, the activities and the obtained results , highlighting developments and changes occurred during test campaigns. The paper concludes with an overview of tuning performed during the satellite cryogenic test campaign (Summer 2008) and of the plans for the just started in-flight calibration.
15501288
Imaging the first light: experimental challenges and future perspectives in the observation of the Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy
Measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) allow high precision observation of the Last Scattering Surface at redshift $z\sim$1100. After the success of the NASA satellite COBE, that in 1992 provided the first detection of the CMB anisotropy, results from many ground-based and balloon-borne experiments have showed a remarkable consistency between different results and provided quantitative estimates of fundamental cosmological properties. During 2003 the team of the NASA WMAP satellite has released the first improved full-sky maps of the CMB since COBE, leading to a deeper insight into the origin and evolution of the Universe. The ESA satellite Planck, scheduled for launch in 2007, is designed to provide the ultimate measurement of the CMB temperature anisotropy over the full sky, with an accuracy that will be limited only by astrophysical foregrounds, and robust detection of polarisation anisotropy. In this paper we review the experimental challenges in high precision CMB experiments and discuss the future perspectives opened by second and third generation space missions like WMAP and Planck.
15347782
Planck 2013 results. XXV. Searches for cosmic strings and other topological defects
Planck data have been used to provide stringent new constraints on cosmic strings and other defects. We describe forecasts of the CMB power spectrum induced by cosmic strings, calculating these from network models and simulations using line-of-sight Boltzmann solvers. We have studied Nambu-Goto cosmic strings, as well as field theory strings for which radiative effects are important, thus spanning the range of theoretical uncertainty in the underlying strings models. We have added the angular power spectrum from strings to that for a simple adiabatic model, with the extra fraction defined as f(10) at multipole l = 10. This parameter has been added to the standard six parameter fit using CO S M OM C with flat priors. For the Nambu-Goto string model, we have obtained a constraint on the string tension of G mu/c(2) < 1.5 x 10(-7) and f(10) < 0.015 at 95% confidence that can be improved to G mu/c(2) < 1.3 x 10(-7) and f(10) < 0.010 on inclusion of high-l CMB data. For the Abelian-Higgs field theory model we find, G mu(AH)/c2 < 3.2x10(-7) and f(10) < 0.028. The marginalised likelihoods for f(10) and in the f(10)-Omega(b)h(2) plane are also presented. We have additionally obtained comparable constraints on f(10) for models with semilocal strings and global textures. In terms of the effective defect energy scale these are somewhat weaker at G mu/c(2) < 1.1 x 10(-6). We have made complementarity searches for the specific non-Gaussian signatures of cosmic strings, calibrating with all-sky Planck resolution CMB maps generated from networks of post-recombination strings. We have validated our non-Gaussian searches using these simulated maps in a Planck-realistic context, estimating sensitivities of up to Delta G mu/c(2) approximate to 4 x 10(-7). We have obtained upper limits on the string tension at 95% confidence of G mu/c(2) < 9.0 x 10(-7) with modal bispectrum estimation and G mu/c(2) < 7.8 x 10(-7) for real space searches with Minkowski functionals. These are conservative upper bounds because only post-recombination string contributions have been included in the non-Gaussian analysis.
119193844
Proper Motions in Globular Clusters using Deconvolution of HST Images
A sub-sampled deconvolution technique for crowded field photometry with the HST WFPC2 instrument was proposed by Butler (2000) and applied to search for optical counterparts to pulsars in globular clusters (Golden et al. 2001). Simulations showed that the method, which takes account of the point-spread function (PSF) spatial variation, can provide better star detection and recovers the resolution lost to aberrations and poor sampling. The original emphasis was on precision photometry in crowded fields. In the present work, we have extended this technique to determine proper motions of stars in globular clusters. Actual HST images of the globular clusters, along with realistic simulations of the globular clusters, were used to benchmark the technique for astrometric accuracy. The ultimate aim is to use this dynamical data to search for intermediate-mass black holes in globular cluster cores.
119327970
A MERLIN Observation of PSR B1951+32 and Its Associated Plerion
In an investigative 16 hr L-band observation using the MERLIN radio interferometric array, we have resolved both the pulsar PSR B1951+32 and the structure within the flat spectral radio continuum region, believed to be the synchrotron nebula associated with the interaction of the pulsar and its "host" supernova remnant CTB 80. The extended structure we see, significant at ~4.5 σ, is of dimensions 25 × 075 and suggests a sharp bow-shaped arc of shocked emission, which is correlated with a similar structure observed in lower resolution radio maps and X-ray images. Using this MERLIN data as a new astrometric reference for other multiwavelength data, we can place the pulsar at one edge of the HST reported optical synchrotron knot, ruling out previously suggested optical counterparts and allowing an elementary analysis of the optical synchrotron emission that appears to trail the pulsar. The latter is possibly a consequence of pulsar wind replenishment, and we suggest that the knot is a result of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities. These being so, it suggests a dynamical nature to the optical knot, which will require high-resolution optical observations to confirm.
16393661
A Photometric Method for estimating CNO Abundances in Globular Clusters
Stromgren indices v and b are combined with broad-band index I, and a new index p, the short wavelength half of the v band, to estimate CN 4215A molecular absorption in a sample of stars in M22. The results have been used to estimate carbon and nitrogen abundances and suggest groups of stars within this cluster, each with a characteristic nitrogen abundance, but with a range of carbon abundances. The results suggest the possibility of stars consisting of material which has undergone CNO recycling two or three times. The method can be subsequently used for other globular clusters.
31365806
Charge form factor and sum rules of electromagnetic response functions in 12C.
An ab initio calculation of the 12C elastic form factor and sum rules of longitudinal and transverse response functions measured in inclusive (e, e') scattering are reported, based on realistic nuclear potentials and electromagnetic currents. The longitudinal elastic form factor and sum rule are found to be in satisfactory agreement with available experimental data. A direct comparison between theory and experiment is difficult for the transverse sum rule. However, it is shown that the calculated transverse sum rule has large contributions from two-body currents, indicating that these mechanisms lead to a significant enhancement of the quasielastic transverse response. This fact may have implications for the anomaly observed in recent neutrino quasielastic charge-changing scattering experiments on 12C.
117023123
A new survey of variability in the core of M15 with TRIFFID-2
A two-week campaign of high-resolution imaging of the centre of M15 using the tip/tilt correcting TRIFFID-2 camera, followed by analysis with ISIS (image matching & subtraction software), has produced the most sensitive survey to date of variable stars in the central ~1x1 arcmin^2 - a total of 48 were detected -, and constrains the size of the dwarf nova population.