Closing the Loop: Joint Analysis of CMB Systematics and Foregrounds

Abstract

The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation is the oldest signal in the universe. It teaches us about the first moments after the universe came into existence, and thus informs us about its subsequent evolution. The CMB serves as the faint backdrop of the night sky, obscured by all the other astrophysical objects (primarily clouds of gas), which we call foregrounds. For precise measurements of the CMB, we require detailed characterization of these, and also of the observing instruments' systematics. Furthermore, the problems of foreground separation and instrument systematics are tightly interwoven. This thesis presents my work on disentangling this relationship. This is done by leveraging observations from several different experiments and simultaneous consideration of systematics and foregrounds in a “loop”-like manner. Through the application of these methods, my colleagues and I have created some of the cleanest maps of the sky in the microwave range, in the world. These maps in turn inform us about important properties of the universe.