Bayesian component separation techniques have played a central role in the data reduction process of Planck. The most important strength of this approach is its global nature, in which a parametric and physical model is fitted to the data. Such physical modeling allows the user to constrain very general data models, and jointly probe cosmological, astrophysical and instrumental parameters. This approach also supports statistically robust goodness-of-fit tests in terms of data-minus-model residual maps, which are essential for identifying residual systematic effects in the data. The main challenges are high code complexity and computational cost. Whether or not these costs are justified for a given experiment depends on its final uncertainty budget. We therefore predict that the importance of Bayesian component separation techniques is likely to increase with time for intensity mapping experiments, similar to what has happened in the CMB field, as observational techniques mature, and their overall sensitivity improves.

We examine the stacked integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) imprints on the CMB along the lines of sight of voids and superclusters in galaxy surveys, using the Jubilee ISW simulation and mock luminous red galaxy (LRG) catalogues. We show that the expected signal in the concordance \Lam CDM model is much smaller than the primary anisotropies arising at the last scattering surface and therefore any currently claimed detections of such an imprint cannot be caused by the ISW effect in \Lam CDM. We look for the existence of such a signal in the Planck CMB using a catalogue of voids and superclusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), but find a result completely consistent with \Lam CDM – i.e., a null detection.

We present the first measurement of the correlation between the map of the CMB lensing potential derived from the Planck nominal mission data and z ≳ 1.5 galaxies detected by Herschel-ATLAS (H-ATLAS) survey covering about 550 deg2. We detect the cross-power spectrum with a significance of ∼ 8.5σ, ruling out the absence of correlation at 9σ. We check detection with a number of null tests. The amplitude of cross-correlation and the galaxy bias are estimated using joint analysis of the cross-power spectrum and the galaxy survey auto-spectrum, which allows to break degeneracy between these parameters. The estimated galaxy bias is consistent with previous estimates of the bias for the H-ATLAS data, while the cross-correlation amplitude is higher than expected for a ΛCDM model. The content of this work is to appear in a forthcoming paper Bianchini, et al. (2014).

The Gaussian Kinematic Formula (GKF, see Adler and Taylor (2007,2011)) is an extremely powerful tool allowing for explicit analytic predictions of expected values of Minkowski functionals under realistic experimental conditions for cosmological data collections. In this paper, we implement Minkowski functionals on multipoles and needlet components of CMB fields, thus allowing a better control of cosmic variance and extraction of information on both harmonic and real domains; we then exploit the GKF to provide their expected values on spherical maps, in the presence of arbitrary sky masks, and under nonGaussian circumstances.

A new spin wavelet transform on the sphere is proposed to analyse the polarisation of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), a spin ± 2 signal observed on the celestial sphere. The scalar directional scale-discretised wavelet transform on the sphere is extended to analyse signals of arbitrary spin. The resulting spin scale-discretised wavelet transform probes the directional intensity of spin signals. A procedure is presented using this new spin wavelet transform to recover E- and B-mode signals from partial-sky observations of CMB polarisation.

The presence of multiple fields during inflation might seed a detectable amount of non-Gaussianity in the curvature perturbations, which in turn becomes observable in present data sets like the cosmic microwave background (CMB) or the large scale structure (LSS). Within this proceeding we present a fully analytic method to infer inflationary parameters from observations by exploiting higher-order statistics of the curvature perturbations. To keep this analyticity, and thereby to dispense with numerically expensive sampling techniques, a saddle-point approximation is introduced whose precision has been validated for a numerical toy example. Applied to real data, this approach might enable to discriminate among the still viable models of inflation.

We present results from an end-to-end simulation pipeline of 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 and achieve other scientific goals. In addition, we show that Gibbs sampling is an effective method of image reconstruction for interferometric data in other astrophysical contexts.

Detection of linear polarisation at a level of 1 ppm or less, associated to the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background, will confirm the cosmological origin of the observed anisotropy and provide information on the thermal history of the universe between the recombination epoch and now. In particular, detection of polarisation can help in deciding if the evolution of the universe included a reionisation epoch. We present the Mk3 model of our correlation polarimeter, an improved version of a system which has already been used for observations of the region of sky around the South Celestial Pole from Antarctica (in 1994 at Terra Nova Bay and in 1998 at Dome C).

A progress report of the MASTER project is presented here. MASTER is a system of three heterodyne receivers based on SIS (superconductor–insulator–superconductor) tunnel junction mixers. In our instrument these mixers will allow direct down-conversion from 94, 225, and 345 to 1.5 GHz, the IF where the signal will be detected. This instrument, coupled to a 2–4 m telescope like the one proposed for the DOME C base in Antarctica and in conjunction with an Acusto Optical Spectrometer, can be used to detect emission lines associated with molecular clouds in the interstellar medium. The current status of a 94 GHz receiver, the prototype of MASTER, will be presented too. The study of the optical coupling between the receiver and MITO telescope in the Italian Alps will also be described.

In this talk I shall start by describing how we set about and carried out the work that led to the publication of Burbidge et al. (1957, hereafter B2FH). I then shall try and relate this work and the circumstances that surrounded it to the larger problem of the origin and formation of the universe. Here it is necessary to look back at the way that ideas developed and how, in many situations, astronomers went astray. Of course this is a personal view, though I very strongly believe that if he were still here, it is the approach that Fred Hoyle would take.

I start by describing the problems originally encountered by Gamow and his associates in trying to decide where the helium was made. This leads me to a modern discussion of the origin of 2D, 3He, 4He and 7Li, originally described by B2FH as due to the x-process. While it is generally argued, following Gamow, Alpher, and Herman, that these isotopes were synthesised in a big bang I shall show that it is equally likely that these isotopes were made in active galactic nuclei, as was the cosmic microwave background (CMB), in a cyclic universe model. The key piece of observational evidence is that the amount of energy released in the conversion of hydrogen to helium in the universe is very close to the energy carried by the CMB, namely ∼4.5 × 10−13 erg cm−3.

In this paper, we introduce two compact, large-throughput CMB polarimeter designs (POLAR1 and BICEP3). These pathfinder experiments will pave the way for a comprehensive multi-frequency South Pole B-mode survey that, when jointly analyzed with arcminute-scale polarization data, can conclusively answer the question whether there is an appreciable fraction (>1%) of the primordial perturbations in the form of tensor modes (gravitational waves).

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) provides us with our most direct observational window to the early universe. Observations of the temperature and polarization anisotropies in the CMB have played a critical role in defining the now-standard cosmological model. In this contribution we review some of the basics of CMB science, highlighting the role of observations made with ground-based and balloon-borne Antarctic telescopes. Most of the ingredients of the standard cosmological model are poorly understood in terms of fundamental physics. We discuss how current and future CMB observations can address some of these issues, focusing on two directly relevant for Antarctic programmes: searching for gravitational waves from inflation via B-mode polarization, and mapping dark matter through CMB lensing.

I will give a review of the current constrains on light element abundances from cosmic microwave background experiments, focusing on results from WMAP and discussing prospects from upcoming data from Planck and ground-based experiments. I will describe how the production of light elements affects the CMB anisotropies, and how we use the data to extract cosmological information that includes constraints on the baryon density, and primordial abundances.