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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01b5644t92v
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dc.contributor.advisorPage, Lyman Aen_US
dc.contributor.authorParker, Lucasen_US
dc.contributor.otherPhysics Departmenten_US
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-07T19:54:41Z-
dc.date.available2015-12-07T19:54:41Z-
dc.date.issued2015en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01b5644t92v-
dc.description.abstractThe Atacama B-Mode Search (ABS) is an experiment designed to probe the physics of the early universe by searching for the signature of gravitational waves in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Primordial gravitational waves, if present, imprint a signal onto the CMB, the so-called ``B-mode" polarization. The challenge to measuring the CMB B-mode signal is its diminutive amplitude, currently constrained to be less than $\sim\!50$\,nK on the sky, some 2000 times below that of the CMB temperature anisotropy. To measure or further constrain the B-mode signal requires high sensitivity and control of systematic error. To tackle this problem, ABS observes with 480 transition-edge sensor bolometers. The detectors are coupled to the sky through a fully cryogenic all-reflective telescope optimized for fidelity of the polarization signal. For a ground-based experiment, such as ABS, the measurement is further complicated by emission from water vapor in the atmosphere. To minimize atmospheric contamination, ABS observes from Cerro Toco in the Atacama desert, an excellent observing site due to the high altitude (5190\,m) and the low levels of water vapor. ABS additionally pioneered the use of an ambient-temperature continuously rotating half wave plate to modulate the celestial polarization signal, enabling rejection of the fluctuating unpolarized atmosphere. This thesis describes the ABS instrumentation and observations.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherPrinceton, NJ : Princeton Universityen_US
dc.relation.isformatofThe Mudd Manuscript Library retains one bound copy of each dissertation. Search for these copies in the library's main catalog: http://catalog.princeton.edu/en_US
dc.subjectCMBen_US
dc.subjectCosmologyen_US
dc.subject.classificationPhysicsen_US
dc.titleThe Atacama B-Mode Search: Instrumentation and Observationsen_US
dc.typeAcademic dissertations (Ph.D.)en_US
pu.projectgrantnumber690-2143en_US
Appears in Collections:Physics

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