학술논문

The Simons Observatory: gain, bandpass and polarization-angle calibration requirements for B-mode searches
Document Type
article
Source
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. 2021(05)
Subject
Particle and High Energy Physics
Physical Sciences
CMBR experiments
CMBR polarisation
gravitational waves and CMBR polarization
cosmological parameters from CMBR
astro-ph.CO
astro-ph.IM
Astronomical and Space Sciences
Atomic
Molecular
Nuclear
Particle and Plasma Physics
Nuclear & Particles Physics
Astronomical sciences
Particle and high energy physics
Language
Abstract
We quantify the calibration requirements for systematic uncertainties for next-generation ground-based observatories targeting the large-angle B-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background, with a focus on the Simons Observatory (SO). We explore uncertainties on gain calibration, bandpass center frequencies, and polarization angles, including the frequency variation of the latter across the bandpass. We find that gain calibration and bandpass center frequencies must be known to percent levels or less to avoid biases on the tensor-to-scalar ratio r on the order of Δ r∼10-3, in line with previous findings. Polarization angles must be calibrated to the level of a few tenths of a degree, while their frequency variation between the edges of the band must be known to O(10) degrees. Given the tightness of these calibration requirements, we explore the level to which residual uncertainties on these systematics would affect the final constraints on r if included in the data model and marginalized over. We find that the additional parameter freedom does not degrade the final constraints on r significantly, broadening the error bar by O(10%) at most. We validate these results by reanalyzing the latest publicly available data from the collaboration within an extended parameter space covering both cosmological, foreground and systematic parameters. Finally, our results are discussed in light of the instrument design and calibration studies carried out within SO.