Sara Simon (Princeton) "The Atacama B-Mode Search: Cosmic Microwave Background Polarimetry at 17,000 Feet"

Abstract:
The Atacama B-mode Search (ABS) was a crossed-Dragone telescope located at an elevation of 5200 m in the Atacama Desert in Chile that observed the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from February 2012 until October 2014. ABS searched for the primordial B-mode polarization signal at large angular scales from multipole moments of l~40 to l~500, where it is expected to peak. The ABS focal plane consisted of 240 pixels sensitive to 145 GHz, each containing two transition-edge sensor bolometers coupled to orthogonal polarizations. Cold optics and a warm, rapidly rotating half-wave plate made the ABS instrument unique. I will discuss the ABS instrument and its contributions to the field of CMB cosmology.