Simulation of the analysis of interferometric microwave background polarization data

Abstract

We present results from an end-to-end simulation pipeline interferometric observations of cosmic microwave background polarization. We use both maximum-likelihood and Gibbs sampling techniques to estimate the power spectrum. In addition, we use Gibbs sampling for image reconstruction from interferometric visibilities. The results indicate the level to which various systematic errors (e.g., pointing errors, gain errors, beam shape errors, cross- polarization) must be controlled in order to successfully detect and characterize primordial B modes as well as other scientific goals. In addition, we show that Gibbs sampling is an effective method of image reconstruction for interferometric data in other astrophysical contexts.