The BRAIN CMB polarization experiment

• Published in: New Astronomy Reviews
• Main Authors: Polenta, G., Ade, P.A.R., Bartlett, J.G., Bréelle, E., Conversi, L., De Bernardis, P., Dufour, C., Gervasi, M., Giard, M., Giordano, C., Giraud-Héraud, Y., Maffei, B., Masi, S., Nati, F., Orlando, A., Peterzen, S., Piacentini, F., Piat, M., Piccirillo, L., Pisano, G., Pons, R., Rosset, C., Savini, G., Sironi, G., Tartari, A., Veneziani, M., Zannoni, M.
• Other Authors: APC - Cosmologie, AstroParticule et Cosmologie (APC (UMR_7164)), Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3), Centre d'étude spatiale des rayonnements (CESR), Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Paolo de Bernardis, Marco De Petris, Luca Lamagna, Roberto Maoli, Silvia Masi and Alessandro Melchiorri, BRAIN
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2006
• Subjects: Cosmology; Polarimetry; Interferometry; Background radiation; 98.80.−k; 95.75.Hi; 95.75.Kk; 98.70.Vc; [PHYS.ASTR.CO]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics [astro-ph.CO]; [SDU.ASTR.CO]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics [astro-ph.CO]; [SDU.ASTR]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]; Austral; Concordia Station; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hal.in2p3.fr/in2p3-00167858; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newar.2006.11.065

International audience In the standard cosmological scenario tensor perturbations of the metric produce a rotational component in the Cosmic Microwave Background polarization, called B-modes. The expected signal is of the order of not, vert, similar0.1 μK, well beyond the sensitivity of current experiments. In this paper, we introduce the BRAIN experiment, a bolometric interferometer devoted to measure the B-modes polarization of the CMB from Concordia station in Antarctica. This experiment will take advantage of both high sensitivity of bolometer arrays and low level of systematic effects of interferometers. We report the results obtained during the first campaign we carried out this austral summer at Dome-C. Using a pathfinder experiment, we demonstrated that a cryocooler based cryogenic system can work in such environmental conditions. We also carried out preliminary observations of the atmospheric emission at 145 GHz from Dome-C, and during the next campaign we'll extend the measurements to all the Stokes parameters I, Q, U, V all over the winter.