The Primordial Inflation Polarization Explorer (PIPER)

Natalie N. Gandilo; Peter A. R. Ade; Dominic Benford; Charles L. Bennett; David T. Chuss; Jessie L. Dotson; Joseph R. Eimer; Dale J. Fixsen; Mark Halpern; Gene Hilton; Gary F. Hinshaw; Kent Irwin; Christine Jhabvala; Mark Kimball; Alan Kogut; Luke Lowe; Jeff J. McMahon; Timothy M. Miller; Paul Mirel; S. Harvey Moseley Jr.; Samuel Pawlyk; Samelys Rodriguez; Elmer Sharp III; Peter Shirron; Johannes G. Staguhn; Dan F. Sullivan; Eric R. Switzer; Peter Taraschi; Carole E. Tucker; Edward J. Wollack

doi:10.1117/12.2231109

19 July 2016 The Primordial Inflation Polarization Explorer (PIPER)

Natalie N. Gandilo, Peter A. R. Ade, Dominic Benford, Charles L. Bennett, David T. Chuss, Jessie L. Dotson, Joseph R. Eimer, Dale J. Fixsen, Mark Halpern, Gene Hilton, Gary F. Hinshaw, Kent Irwin, Christine Jhabvala, Mark Kimball, Alan Kogut, Luke Lowe, Jeff J. McMahon, Timothy M. Miller, Paul Mirel, S. Harvey Moseley Jr., Samuel Pawlyk, Samelys Rodriguez, Elmer Sharp III, Peter Shirron, Johannes G. Staguhn, Dan F. Sullivan, Eric R. Switzer, Peter Taraschi, Carole E. Tucker, Edward J. Wollack

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9914, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VIII; 99141J (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2231109
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

The Primordial Inflation Polarization ExploreR (PIPER) is a balloon-borne telescope designed to measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background on large angular scales. PIPER will map 85% of the sky at 200, 270, 350, and 600 GHz over a series of 8 conventional balloon flights from the northern and southern hemispheres. The first science flight will use two 32 × 40 arrays of backshort-under-grid transition edge sensors, multiplexed in the time domain, and maintained at 100 mK by a Continuous Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator. Front- end cryogenic Variable-delay Polarization Modulators provide systematic control by rotating linear to circular polarization at 3 Hz. Twin telescopes allow PIPER to measure Stokes I, Q, U , and V simultaneously. The telescope is maintained at 1.5 K in an LHe bucket dewar. Cold optics and the lack of a warm window permit sensitivity at the sky-background limit. The ultimate science target is a limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio of r ∼ 0.007, from the reionization bump to l ∼ 300. PIPER’s first flight will be from the Northern hemisphere, and overlap with the CLASS survey at lower frequencies. We describe the current status of the PIPER instrument.

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Natalie N. Gandilo, Peter A. R. Ade, Dominic Benford, Charles L. Bennett, David T. Chuss, Jessie L. Dotson, Joseph R. Eimer, Dale J. Fixsen, Mark Halpern, Gene Hilton, Gary F. Hinshaw, Kent Irwin, Christine Jhabvala, Mark Kimball, Alan Kogut, Luke Lowe, Jeff J. McMahon, Timothy M. Miller, Paul Mirel, S. Harvey Moseley Jr., Samuel Pawlyk, Samelys Rodriguez, Elmer Sharp III, Peter Shirron, Johannes G. Staguhn, Dan F. Sullivan, Eric R. Switzer, Peter Taraschi, Carole E. Tucker, and Edward J. Wollack "The Primordial Inflation Polarization Explorer (PIPER)", Proc. SPIE 9914, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VIII, 99141J (19 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2231109

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