Map-making strategies for next generation CMB experiments

TL;DR

This paper reviews various map-making strategies for next-generation CMB experiments, focusing on the pair-differencing approach and its effectiveness against atmospheric and systematic noise in simulated data.

Contribution

It provides an evaluation of the pair-differencing map-making method using simulations that include systematic effects relevant for upcoming CMB observatories.

Findings

Pair-differencing effectively reduces atmospheric contamination.

Simulations show systematic effects impact polarization measurements.

The approach is suitable for large data volumes in future experiments.

Abstract

I briefly review some of the most common map-making strategies for experiments targeting the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), in light of the anticipated volumes of data collected by next generation observatories such as Simons Observatory and CMB-S4. Then, I focus on the pair-differencing approach, used for example in the POLARBEAR and BICEP collaborations. Using simulations including a number of systematic effects, I evaluate the impact of correlated and unpolarized signals such as coming from the atmosphere, which is a major contaminant for ground-based experiments.