In the last years, the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) produced significant innovations in in-situ antenna measurements. UAV-mounted radio-frequency generators have been initially exploited at low frequencies to characterize the radiation pattern of receiving antennas and arrays (e.g. HF radars, VHF radio telescopes), and up to the X-band for radar characterization. Within the Italian...
A calibration for polarization responses (i.e. angle and gain) is an important subject for sucess of CMB polarization experiments. We (I and my colleagues) have developed calibration systems using sparse wire grid. Wires in ambient make a blackbody signal which is linearly polarized. Focal plane detectors measure the polarization signal when we set the wires in front of receiver or telescope...
The measurement of the primordial B-mode polarization in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is a major challenge of future CMB experiments. However, as B-mode polarization is dominated by foregrounds at all scales and frequencies, the detectability of this cosmological signal solely depends on our ability to remove foregrounds. We present the of B-mode polarization forecast in the...
A prototype version of the Q & U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology (QUBIC) underwent a campaign of testing in the laboratory at Astroparticle Physics and Cosmology in Paris. Characterization of QUBIC includes the measurement of the synthesized beam, the measurement of interference fringes, and the measurement of polarization performance. A modulated and frequency tunable...
