Aula Careri (Dipartimento di Fisica - Ed. G. Marconi)
Aula Careri
Dipartimento di Fisica - Ed. G. Marconi
Description
EBEX (E and B EXperiment) is a balloon-borne experiment designed to provide valuable information about the Universe when it was much less than a second old. It is a long-duration payload equipped with an array of up to 1697 bolometric transition edge sensors that will measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) with unprecedented sensitivity. EBEX has already completed its test flight, in June of 2009 from Ft. Sumner, NM. Important milestones have been achieved during this test flight, including the first operation of any transition edge sensor (TES) bolometer in a balloon-borne environment, the first demonstration of the multiplexed readout of TES bolometers in space-like conditions, and the first operation of a polarimeter based on continuous rotation of a HWP by means of a superconducting magnetic bearing. We will review the EBEX instrument, its scientific goals and the engineering data from the test, and discuss the preparation for its first long duration flight, which is scheduled to take place in December 2012.
