A general solution to the E-B mixing problem

dc.creatorSmith, Kendrick M.
dc.creatorZaldarriaga, Matias
dc.date2006-10-03
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T11:26:07Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T11:26:07Z
dc.descriptionWe derive a general ansatz for optimizing pseudo-C_l estimators used to measure CMB anisotropy power spectra, and apply it to the recently-proposed pure pseudo-C_l formalism, to obtain an estimator which achieves near-optimal B-mode power spectrum errors for any specified noise distribution while minimizing leakage from ambiguous modes. Our technique should be relevant for upcoming CMB polarization experiments searching for B-mode polarization. We compare our technique both to the theoretical limits based on a full Fisher matrix calculation and to the standard pseudo-C_l technique. We demonstrate it by applying it to a fiducial survey with realistic inhomogeneous noise, complex boundaries, point source masking, and noise level comparable to what is expected for next generation experiments (~5.75 uK-arcmin). For such an experiment our technique could improve the constraints on the amplitude of a gravity wave background by over a factor of ten compared to what could be obtained using ordinary pseudo-C_l, coming quite close to saturating the theoretical limit. Constraints on the amplitude of the lensing B-modes are improved by about a factor of 3.
dc.description25 pages, 10 figures, submitted to PRD
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0610059
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0610059
dc.identifierPhys.Rev.D76:043001,2007
dc.identifierdoi:10.1103/PhysRevD.76.043001
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/195726
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleA general solution to the E-B mixing problem
dc.typetext

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