Polarization and Anisotropy of the Microwave Sky

Abstract

We study the polarization-polarization and polarization-temperature correlations in standard adiabatic scenarios for structure formation. Temperature anisotropies due to gravitational potential wells and oscillations in the photon-baryon-electron fluid on the surface of last scattering are each associated with a correlated polarization pattern. While the `correlated part' of the polarization has an r.m.s. of only a third of the total signal, it may still be measurable by mapping a large area on the sky. We calculate the expected signal to noise ratio for various measures of the polarization in a hypothetical mapping experiment such as those now being planned.