Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userOptical Design of PICO, a Concept for a Space Mission to Probe Inflation and Cosmic Origins
253
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
The Probe of Inflation and Cosmic Origins (PICO) is a probe-class mission concept currently under study by NASA. PICO will probe the physics of the Big Bang and the energy scale of inflation, constrain the sum of neutrino masses, measure the growth of structures in the universe, and constrain its reionization history by making full sky maps of the cosmic microwave background with sensitivity 80 times higher than the Planck space mission. With bands at 21-799 GHz and arcmin resolution at the highest frequencies, PICO will make polarization maps of Galactic synchrotron and dust emission to observe the role of magnetic fields in Milky Ways evolution and star formation. We discuss PICOs optical system, focal plane, and give current best case noise estimates. The optical design is a two-reflector optimized open-Dragone design with a cold aperture stop. It gives a diffraction limited field of view (DLFOV) with throughput of 910 square cm sr at 21 GHz. The large 82 square degree DLFOV hosts 12,996 transition edge sensor bolometers distributed in 21 frequency bands and maintained at 0.1 K. We use focal plane technologies that are currently implemented on operating CMB instruments including three-color multi-chroic pixels and multiplexed readouts. To our knowledge, this is the first use of an open-Dragone design for mm-wave astrophysical observations, and the only monolithic CMB instrument to have such a broad frequency coverage. With current best case estimate polarization depth of 0.65 microK(CMB}-arcmin over the entire sky, PICO is the most sensitive CMB instrument designed to date.
rate research
Read More
The Probe of Inflation and Cosmic Origins (PICO) is an imaging polarimeter that will scan the sky for 5 years in 21 frequency bands spread between 21 and 799 GHz. It will produce full-sky surveys of intensity and polarization with a final combined-map noise level of 0.87 $mu$K arcmin for the required specifications, equivalent to 3300 Planck missions, and with our current best-estimate would have a noise level of 0.61 $mu$K arcmin (6400 Planck missions). PICO will either determine the energy scale of inflation by detecting the tensor to scalar ratio at a level $r=5times 10^{-4}~(5sigma)$, or will rule out with more than $5sigma$ all inflation models for which the characteristic scale in the potential is the Planck scale. With LSSTs data it could rule out all models of slow-roll inflation. PICO will detect the sum of neutrino masses at $>4sigma$, constrain the effective number of light particle species with $Delta N_{rm eff}<0.06~(2sigma)$, and elucidate processes affecting the evolution of cosmic structures by measuring the optical depth to reionization with errors limited by cosmic variance and by constraining the evolution of the amplitude of linear fluctuations $sigma_{8}(z)$ with sub-percent accuracy. Cross-correlating PICOs map of the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect with LSSTs gold sample of galaxies will precisely trace the evolution of thermal pressure with $z$. PICOs maps of the Milky Way will be used to determine the make up of galactic dust and the role of magnetic fields in star formation efficiency. With 21 full sky legacy maps in intensity and polarization, which cannot be obtained in any other way, the mission will enrich many areas of astrophysics. PICO is the only single-platform instrument with the combination of sensitivity, angular resolution, frequency bands, and control of systematic effects that can deliver this compelling, timely, and broad science.
The Probe of Inflation and Cosmic Origins (PICO) is a proposed probe-scale space mission consisting of an imaging polarimeter operating in frequency bands between 20 and 800 GHz. We describe the science achievable by PICO, which has sensitivity equivalent to more than 3300 Planck missions, the technical implementation, the schedule and cost.
The Probe of Inflation and Cosmic Origins (PICO) is a NASA-funded study of a Probe-class mission concept. The top-level science objectives are to probe the physics of the Big Bang by measuring or constraining the energy scale of inflation, probe fundamental physics by measuring the number of light particles in the Universe and the sum of neutrino masses, to measure the reionization history of the Universe, and to understand the mechanisms driving the cosmic star formation history, and the physics of the galactic magnetic field. PICO would have multiple frequency bands between 21 and 799 GHz, and would survey the entire sky, producing maps of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background radiation, of galactic dust, of synchrotron radiation, and of various populations of point sources. Several instrument configurations, optical systems, cooling architectures, and detector and readout technologies have been and continue to be considered in the development of the mission concept. We will present a snapshot of the baseline mission concept currently under development.
The Origins Space Telescope (Origins) traces our cosmic history, from the formation of the first galaxies and the rise of metals to the development of habitable worlds and present-day life. Origins does this through exquisite sensitivity to infrared radiation from ions, atoms, molecules, dust, water vapor and ice, and observations of extra-solar planetary atmospheres, protoplanetary disks, and large-area extragalactic fields. Origins operates in the wavelength range 2.8 to 588 microns and is 1000 times more sensitive than its predecessors due to its large, cold (4.5 K) telescope and advanced instruments. Origins was one of four large missions studied by the community with support from NASA and industry in preparation for the 2020 Decadal Survey in Astrophysics. This is the final study report.
The Origins Space Telescope (OST) will transform our understanding of the Universe, from formation of the earliest galaxies to the creation of habitable worlds. OSTs Mission Concept 1, the subject of this report, features a cold (4 K) large-aperture telescope (9.1 m) and five powerful instruments, providing imaging and spectroscopy over a wavelength range from 5 to 660 microns. OSTs dramatic increase in sensitivity over previous missions ensures breakthrough discoveries in a broad range of astrophysics disciplines.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
