Zack Li, Princeton University
"ABS, ACT, and Planck via the Simons Observatory Power Spectrum Pipeline"

I will present an open-source and validated pipeline for curved sky CMB power spectrum analysis, intended for use with Simons Observatory. I'll discuss cross-correlations of maps from the ground-based ACT and ABS experiments made with this pipeline, highlighting an avenue for polarization science from the Atacama at multipoles of ~100. I'll also show preliminary results from a re-analysis of the frequency maps from the Planck satellite.

Rita Sonka, Princeton University
"Single Pixel Box (SPB): A microwave-multiplexed optical tester for Simons Observatory"

Simons Observatory aims to observe the Cosmic Microwave Background with unprecedented sensitivity, creating high-resolution sky maps with up to an order of magnitude lower polarization noise than maps from the Planck satellite, using an ambitious microwave multiplexing (µMUX) scheme in which a single pair of RF (Radio Frequency) lines reads out O(1000) detectors.

In order to validate the detectors, optics and readout systems spread between the collaboration’s institutions, Princeton designed optical testers for smaller numbers of TESs (Transition Edge Sensors) than the deployment arrays, the Universal Focal Plane Modules (UFMs). I describe the design and construction of these Single Pixel Boxes (SPBs), and my recent use of them to characterize detectors and test Princeton’s readout systems.