A Forecast of the Sensitivity on the Measurement of the Optical Depth to Reionization with the GroundBIRD Experiment

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal Vol. 915; no. 2; pp. 88 - 97
• Main Authors: Lee, K., Génova-Santos, R. T., Hazumi, M., Honda, S., Kutsuma, H., Oguri, S., Otani, C., Peel, M. W., Sueno, Y., Suzuki, J., Tajima, O., Won, E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia The American Astronomical Society 01.07.2021; IOP Publishing
• Subjects: Astronomical maps; Astrophysics; Cosmic microwave background radiation; Cosmological parameters; Early universe; Experiments; Ground-based observation; Ionization; Meteorological satellites; Noise levels; Optical analysis; Optical thickness; Photon decoupling; Sensitivity; Simulation
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac024b

Abstract We compute the expected sensitivity on measurements of optical depth to reionization for a ground-based experiment at Teide Observatory. We simulate polarized partial sky maps for the GroundBIRD experiment at the frequencies 145 and 220 GHz. We perform fits for the simulated maps with our pixel-based likelihood to extract the optical depth to reionization. The noise levels of polarization maps are estimated as 110 μ K arcmin and 780 μ K arcmin for 145 and 220 GHz, respectively, by assuming a three-year observing campaign and sky coverages of 0.537 for 145 GHz and 0.462 for 220 GHz. Our sensitivities for the optical depth to reionization are found to be σ τ = 0.030 with the simulated GroundBIRD maps, and σ τ = 0.012 by combining with the simulated QUIJOTE maps at 11, 13, 17, 19, 30, and 40 GHz.