3:30–4:30 pm ERC 161
Johanna Nagy (Washington University) "Measuring CMB Polarization from the Stratosphere"
Measurements of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are a powerful probe of the composition and evolution of the Universe. Observing from the stratosphere with balloon-borne telescopes provides access to information at high frequencies and on the largest spatial scales. I'll present results from the first Antarctic flight of SPIDER, a balloon-borne instrument optimized to measure CMB B-mode polarization on degree angular scales to probe inflation and characterize Galactic foregrounds. I'll also discuss the upcoming Taurus experiment, which is being designed to measure the E-mode signal from reionization over 70% of the sky during a mid-latitude flight. These datasets as well as the instrumentation and analysis techniques developed for both of these experiments are highly complementary to other current and planned CMB observations.
