J. Aumont

A sensitive upper limit to the circular polarization of the Crab nebula at λ3 mm

A new observation of the distribution of the circular polarization over the Crab Nebula supernova remnant yields an upper limit of <0.2% at a radio frequency of 89.2 GHz. This limit is set by the uncertainty in correcting for the instrumental polarization. The raw data were dominated by the conversion of the strong linear polarization to circular in the crosspolarized sidelobes of the 30 m telescope. They were modeled as due to a differential phase gradient between the orthogonally linearly polarized far-field radiation patterns of the two receivers. As the source is tracked these rotate with respect to the radio source distribution on the sky since the telescope has an alt-azimuth mount and a Nasmyth focus. This allows the model to be fit to the raw data and a correction can be made. Our limit of <0.2% is to be compared with <0.03% derived at 610 MHz (Wilson & Weiler 1997, ApJ, 475, 661) and <6% measured at 23 GHz (Wright & Forster 1980, ApJ, 239, 873). These limits are consistent with the polarization expected from an optically thin synchrotron source with the known physical properties of the Crab Nebula. This non-detection does not allow an estimate to be made of the relative contribution to the radio emission from electrons and positrons.

Latest Progress on the QUBIC Instrument

QUBIC is a unique instrument that crosses the barriers between classical imaging architectures and interferometry taking advantage from both high sensitivity and systematics mitigation. The scientific target is to detect primordial gravitational waves created by inflation by the polarization they imprint on the cosmic microwave background—the holy grail of modern cosmology. In this paper, we show the latest advances in the development of the architecture and the sub-systems of the first module of this instrument to be deployed at Dome Charlie Concordia base—Antarctica in 2015.

NIKA 150 GHz polarization observations of the Crab nebula and its spectral energy distribution

The Crab nebula is a supernova remnant exhibiting a highly polarized synchrotron radiation at radio and millimeter wavelengths. It is the brightest source in the microwave sky with an extension of 7 by 5 arcminutes and commonly used as a standard candle for any experiment which aims at measuring the polarization of the sky. Though its spectral energy distribution has been well characterized in total intensity, polarization data are still lacking at millimetre wavelengths. We report in this paper high resolution (18 arcsec FWHM) observations of the Crab nebula in total intensity and linear polarization at 150 GHz with the NIKA camera. NIKA, operated at the IRAM 30 m telescope from 2012 to 2015, is a camera made of Lumped Element Kinetic Inductance Detectors (LEKIDs) observing the sky at 150 and 260 GHz. From these observations we are able to reconstruct the spatial distribution of the polarization degree and angle of the Crab nebula, which is found to be compatible with previous observations at lower and higher frequencies. Averaging across the source and using other existing data sets we find that the Crab nebula polarization angle is consistent with being constant over a wide range of frequencies with a value of -87.7

Pilot optical alignment

^circ

Optical design and modelling of the QUBIC instrument, a next-generation quasi-optical bolometric interferometer for cosmology

+- 0.3 in Galactic coordinates. We also present the first estimation of the Crab nebula spectral energy distribution polarized flux in a wide frequency range: 30-353 GHz. Assuming a single power law emission model we find that the polarization spectral index

Planck 2015 results: XXI. The integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect - eScholarship

beta_{pol}

Planck 2013 results. XX. Cosmology from Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster counts - eScholarship

= - 0.347 +- 0.026 is compatible with the intensity spectral index

QUBIC: A Fizeau Interferometer Targeting Primordial B-Modes

beta

QUBIC Technological Design Report

= - 0.323 +- 0.001.

PILOT balloon-borne experiment in-flight performance

PILOT (Polarized Instrument for Long wavelength Observations of the Tenuous interstellar medium) is a balloonborne astronomy experiment designed to study the polarization of dust emission in the diffuse interstellar medium in our Galaxy. The PILOT instrument allows observations at wavelengths 240 μm (1.2THz) with an angular resolution about two arc-minutes. The observations performed during the first flight in September 2015 at Timmins, Ontario Canada, have demonstrated the optical performances of the instrument.