Atacama B-Mode Search
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Atacama B-Mode Search
The Atacama B-Mode Search (ABS) was an experiment to test the theory of cosmic inflation and distinguish between inflationary models of the very early universe by making precise measurements of the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). ABS was located at a high-altitude site in the Atacama Desert of Chile as part of the Parque Astronómico de Atacama. ABS began observations in February 2012 and completed observations in October 2014. Instrument The ABS telescope imaged the sky at a frequency of 145 GHz (2 mm wavelength), in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum, where the CMB emission is at its maximum. The CMB is expected to be weakly polarized, and the ABS instrument is designed to measure this very faint signal. The camera consisted of 240 polarization-sensitive pixels, with two transition-edge-sensor (TES) bolometers per pixel. This TES array was cooled to a temperature of 0.3 Kelvin to reduce thermal noise in the detectors. The o ...
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Cosmic Inflation
In physical cosmology, cosmic inflation, cosmological inflation, or just inflation, is a theory of exponential expansion of space in the early universe. The inflationary epoch lasted from  seconds after the conjectured Big Bang singularity to some time between and  seconds after the singularity. Following the inflationary period, the universe continued to expand, but at a slower rate. The acceleration of this expansion due to dark energy began after the universe was already over 7.7 billion years old (5.4 billion years ago). Inflation theory was developed in the late 1970s and early 80s, with notable contributions by several theoretical physicists, including Alexei Starobinsky at Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, Alan Guth at Cornell University, and Andrei Linde at Lebedev Physical Institute. Alexei Starobinsky, Alan Guth, and Andrei Linde won the 2014 Kavli Prize "for pioneering the theory of cosmic inflation." It was developed further in the earl ...
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NANTEN2 Observatory
The NANTEN2 Observatory is a southern sky observatory in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It is located at an altitude of on Pampa la Bola next to Cerro Chajnantor. The observatory is equipped with a millimeter and submillimeter wave telescope that is used for southern sky observations of atomic and molecular spectral lines in 110 GHz to 880 GHz range. It is one of a number of observatories operating at Llano de Chajnantor Observatory. It is operated as a collaboration between research institutes in Japan ( Nagoya University and Osaka University), South Korea ( Seoul National University), Germany (KOSMA, Universität zu Köln, Argelander Institute for Astronomy at the University of Bonn), Australia (University of New South Wales, University of Adelaide, Macquarie University, Swinburne University of Technology, University of Sydney, University of Western Sydney) and Chile (Universidad de Chile). The instrument was previously located at the Las Campanas Observatory fro ...
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Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consistently ranks among the most prestigious universities in the United States and the world. The university was named for its first benefactor, the American entrepreneur and Quaker philanthropist Johns Hopkins. Hopkins' $7 million bequest to establish the university was the largest Philanthropy, philanthropic gift in U.S. history up to that time. Daniel Coit Gilman, who was inaugurated as :Presidents of Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins's first president on February 22, 1876, led the university to revolutionize higher education in the U.S. by integrating teaching and research. In 1900, Johns Hopkins became a founding member of the American Association of Universities. The university has led all Higher education in the U ...
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Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. It is one of the highest-ranked universities in the world. The institution moved to Newark, New Jersey, Newark in 1747, and then to the current site nine years later. It officially became a university in 1896 and was subsequently renamed Princeton University. It is a member of the Ivy League. The university is governed by the Trustees of Princeton University and has an endowment of $37.7 billion, the largest List of colleges and universities in the United States by endowment, endowment per student in the United States. Princeton provides undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate education, graduate in ...
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CONICYT
CONICYT is a Chilean government agency responsible for coordinating, promoting and aiding scientific research in the country. The name is an acronym of ''Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica'' meaning "National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research". CONICYT is part of the Ministry of Education. CONICYT provides grants through several programs: * FONDECYT The National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (Spanish: ''Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico''), abbreviated FONDECYT, is the main public fund of the Government of Chile to promote basic scientific and technol ... (National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development) * FONDEF (Fund for the Promotion of Scientific and Technological Development) * FONDAP (Financing Fund Research Centres in Priority Areas) * National Fund for Research and Development in Health * Regional Fund for Scientific and Technological Development * Explore program Ref ...
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NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), to give the U.S. space development effort a distinctly civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. NASA has since led most American space exploration, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968-1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. NASA supports the International Space Station and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the crewed lunar Artemis program, Commercial Crew spacecraft, and the planned Lunar Gateway space station. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program, which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management f ...
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National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health. With an annual budget of about $8.3 billion (fiscal year 2020), the NSF funds approximately 25% of all federally supported basic research conducted by the United States' colleges and universities. In some fields, such as mathematics, computer science, economics, and the social sciences, the NSF is the major source of federal backing. The NSF's director and deputy director are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate, whereas the 24 president-appointed members of the National Science Board (NSB) do not require Senate confirmation. The director and deputy director are responsible for administration, planning, budgeting and day-to-day operations of the foundation, while t ...
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Square Degree
__NOTOC__ A square degree (deg2) is a non- SI unit measure of solid angle. Other denotations include ''sq. deg.'' and (°)2. Just as degrees are used to measure parts of a circle, square degrees are used to measure parts of a sphere. Analogous to one degree being equal to  radians, a square degree is equal to ()2 steradians (sr), or about  sr or about . The whole sphere has a solid angle of which is approximately : : 4 \pi \left(\frac\right)^2 \, ^2 = \frac\,\, ^2 = \frac \,\, ^2 \approx 41\,252.96 \,\, ^2 Examples * The full moon covers only about of the sky when viewed from the surface of the Earth. The Moon is only a half degree across (i.e. a circular diameter of roughly ), so the moon's disk covers a circular area of: ()2, or 0.2 square degrees. The moon varies from 0.188 to depending on its distance to the Earth. * Viewed from Earth, the Sun is roughly half a degree across (the same as the full moon) and covers only as well. * It would take times the full ...
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B-modes
In Big Bang cosmology the cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR) is electromagnetic radiation that is a remnant from an early stage of the universe, also known as "relic radiation". The CMB is faint cosmic background radiation filling all space. It is an important source of data on the early universe because it is the oldest electromagnetic radiation in the universe, dating to the epoch of recombination when the first atoms were formed. With a traditional optical telescope, the space between stars and galaxies (the background) is completely dark (see: Olbers' paradox). However, a sufficiently sensitive radio telescope shows a faint background brightness, or glow, almost uniform, that is not associated with any star, galaxy, or other object. This glow is strongest in the microwave region of the radio spectrum. The accidental discovery of the CMB in 1965 by American radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson was the culmination of work initiated in the 1940s, and earned the ...
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Structure Formation
In physical cosmology, structure formation is the formation of galaxies, galaxy clusters and larger structures from small early density fluctuations. The universe, as is now known from observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation, began in a hot, dense, nearly uniform state approximately 13.8 billion years ago. However, looking at the night sky today, structures on all scales can be seen, from stars and planets to galaxies. On even larger scales, galaxy clusters and sheet-like structures of galaxies are separated by enormous voids containing few galaxies. Structure formation attempts to model how these structures were formed by gravitational instability of small early ripples in spacetime density or another emergence. The modern Lambda-CDM model is successful at predicting the observed large-scale distribution of galaxies, clusters and voids; but on the scale of individual galaxies there are many complications due to highly nonlinear processes involving baryonic phy ...
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Gravitational Wave
Gravitational waves are waves of the intensity of gravity generated by the accelerated masses of an orbital binary system that propagate as waves outward from their source at the speed of light. They were first proposed by Oliver Heaviside in 1893 and then later by Henri Poincaré in 1905 as waves similar to electromagnetic waves but the gravitational equivalent. Gravitational waves were later predicted in 1916 by Albert Einstein on the basis of his general theory of relativity as ripples in spacetime. Later he refused to accept gravitational waves. Gravitational waves transport energy as gravitational radiation, a form of radiant energy similar to electromagnetic radiation. Newton's law of universal gravitation, part of classical mechanics, does not provide for their existence, since that law is predicated on the assumption that physical interactions propagate instantaneously (at infinite speed)showing one of the ways the methods of Newtonian physics are unable to explain ph ...
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Lock-in Amplifier
A lock-in amplifier is a type of amplifier that can extract a signal with a known carrier wave from an extremely noisy environment. Depending on the dynamic reserve of the instrument, signals up to a million times smaller than noise components, potentially fairly close by in frequency, can still be reliably detected. It is essentially a homodyne detector followed by low-pass filter that is often adjustable in cut-off frequency and filter order. The device is often used to measure phase shift, even when the signals are large, have a high signal-to-noise ratio and do not need further improvement. Recovering signals at low signal-to-noise ratios requires a strong, clean reference signal with the same frequency as the received signal. This is not the case in many experiments, so the instrument can recover signals buried in the noise only in a limited set of circumstances. The lock-in amplifier is commonly believed to have been invented by Princeton University physicist Robert H. Di ...
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