Modelling Of Solar Sidelobe Profiles For The C-Band All Sky Survey (C-BASS) North Telescope

Abstract

The basic properties of this universe are determined by five numbers: the density of matter, the density of atoms, the age of the universe (or equivalently, the Hubble constant today), the amplitude of the initial fluctuations, and their scale dependence. The evolution of CMB anisotropies involves well-understood physics in the linear regime and hence is on a very sound theoretical basis. It is therefore possible to make precise predictions of how the CMB anisotropies depend on the basic quantities that characterise our Universe (The Planck Collaboration, 2006).The evolution history and composition of the Universe is imprinted on the CMB as temperature and polarisation anisotropies. Whilst progress has been made in measuring temperature anisotropies, polarisation anisotropies remain relatively un-probed. Advances in observational cosmology has armed us with improved precision of cosmological constants and understanding of the constitution and distribution of the Universe. Instrumentalists, radio astronomers, and cosmologists are now working together to unveil the weak CMB polarisation signature, in order to detect primordial B modes. Detection of B modes will allow us to investigate the energy scale and physics of the very early Universe, some $10^{-30}$ seconds after the big bang. Temperature anisotropies only allow us to see up to around 380,000 years after the big bang. This will require significant improvement to present Galactic emission models. Ground and balloon large sky survey projects, such as BICEP, Polar BEAR, and CBASS, will improve component separation of data from sensitive space instruments such as WMAP and PLANCK, by improving foreground models.This thesis centres around my research work done on solar contamination of the CBASS large sky survey. Chapters 1 and 2 discuss the measuring of the radio sky, covering properties of the CMB and foregrounds. Chapters 3 and 4 review my analysis of the C-BASS North solar sidelobes.

Date of Award	31 Dec 2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Paddy Leahy (Supervisor) & Clive Dickinson (Supervisor)