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General
El experimento QUIJOTE (Q U I JOint TEnerife) tiene como objetivo caracterizar la polarización del Fondo Cósmico de Microondas (FCM) y otros procesos de emisión Galáctica y extra-galáctica en el rango de frecuencias de 10-42 GHz, y a grandes escalas angulares (1 grado de resolución). Las medidas de QUIJOTE complementan a baja frecuencia las que ha obtenido el satélite Planck (ESA), y permiten caracterizar con precisión la polarización de la emisión sincrotrón y la emisión anómala de microondas de nuestra Galaxia.
El experimento consta de dos telescopios (QT-1 y QT-2) y tres instrumentos (MFI, TGI y FGI) que cubren 6 bandas de frecuencia. El MFI (Multi-Frequency Instrument) observa en 4 bandas (11, 13, 17 y 19GHz), y está en operación en el QT-1 desde noviembre de 2012. Los instrumentos TGI (Thirty GHz Instrument) y FGI (Forty GHz Instrument) tienen cada uno 31 receptores, a 30GHz y 42GHz respectivamente. El TGI tuvo su primera luz con 27 polarímetros en diciembre de 2016, y losprimeros detectores del FGI tuvieron primera luz en 2018. En la actualidad, ambos instrumentos TGI y FGI se han integrado en un único criostato en el foco del QT-2, en una configuración mixta de 14 receptores de 30GHz, y 15 de 42GHz.
Los instrumentos TGI y FGI han sido diseñados para alcanzar la sensibilidad necesaria para detectar una componente de ondas gravitacionales primordial si ésta tuviera una razón tensorial a escalar de r=0.05. Dicha componente deja su impronta en el espectro de potencias de la polarización del FCM en forma de los denominados "modos-B". La detección de dichos modos-B abriría un camino extraordinario para esclarecer la física de la inflación. Para alcanzar los objetivos científicos, los mapas para estudios cosmológicos de QUIJOTE cubrirán un área de unos 3,000 grados cuadrados, y alcanzarán un nivel de sensibilidad de 3-4 microK por haz en 11-19GHz, y 1 microK por haz tanto a 30GHz como a 42 GHz. Además, el experimento proporciona mapas de medio cielo (20,000 deg2) que se usan para modelar la emisión de los contaminantes en radio (sincrotrón, libre-libre y emisión anómala), en el contexto del proyecto RADIOFOREGROUNDS: http://www.radioforegrounds.eu.
En paralelo, se desarrollan dos nuevos instrumentos, financiados en su mayor parte por fondos del plan de infraestructuras y equipamiento científico-técnico: un nuevo Multi-Frecuencia (MFI2), que sustituirá al actual MFI incluyendo mejores prestaciones; y el TMS (Tenerife Microwave Spectrometer), un espectrógrafo de microondas también en el rango 10-20 GHz complementario a QUIJOTE.
El proyecto QUIJOTE, liderado por el IAC, tiene como socios al Instituto de Física de Cantabria (IFCA), al Departamento de Ingeniería de Comunicaciones (DICOM), y las Universidades de Manchester y Cambridge en Reino Unido. Web: http://www.iac.es/project/cmb/quijote.
Members
Results
- MFI results (January 2023). Almost a decade after starting observations of the sky in the northern hemisphere, the QUIJOTE Collaboration has presented an initial series of 6 scientific articles, giving the most accurate description we have of the polarization of the emission of the Milky Way in the microwave range. This is a window of observation not previously explored, which provides complementary information to that obtained previously by space missions (Planck and WMAP) dedicated to the study of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), the fossil radiation left behind by the Big Bang. The new results allow us to obtain information about the structure of the magnetic field of our Galaxy, as well as helping to understand the energetic processes that took place close to the birth of our Universe.
Scientific activity
Related publications
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Searching for dark-matter waves with PPTA and QUIJOTE pulsar polarimetry
The polarization of photons emitted by astrophysical sources might be altered as they travel through a dark matter medium composed of ultra light axion-like particles (ALPs). In particular, the coherent oscillations of the ALP background in the galactic halo induce a periodic change on the polarization of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by
Castillo, Andrés et al.Advertised on:
62022 -
Accurate sky signal reconstruction for ground-based spectroscopy with kinetic inductance detectors
Context. Wide-field spectrometers are needed to deal with current astrophysical challenges that require multiband observations at millimeter wavelengths. An example of these is the KIDs Interferometer Spectrum Survey (KISS), which uses two arrays of kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) coupled to a Martin-Puplett interferometer (MPI). KISS has a
Fasano, A. et al.Advertised on:
122021 -
The PICASSO map-making code: application to a simulation of the QUIJOTE northern sky survey
Map-making is an important step for the data analysis of cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. It consists of converting the data, which are typically a long, complex, and noisy collection of measurements, into a map, which is an image of the observed sky. We present in this paper a new map-making code named PICASSO (Polarization and
Guidi, F. et al.Advertised on:
112021 -
The large scale polarization explorer (LSPE) for CMB measurements: performance forecast
The measurement of the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation is one of the current frontiers in cosmology. In particular, the detection of the primordial divergence-free component of the polarization field, the B-mode, could reveal the presence of gravitational waves in the early Universe. The detection of such a component
Addamo, G. et al.Advertised on:
82021 -
Detection of spectral variations of Anomalous Microwave Emission with QUIJOTE and C-BASS
Anomalous Microwave Emission (AME) is a significant component of Galactic diffuse emission in the frequency range 10- $60\, \mathrm{GHz}$ and a new window into the properties of sub-nanometre-sized grains in the interstellar medium. We investigate the morphology of AME in the ≍10○ diameter λ Orionis ring by combining intensity data from the QUIJOTE
Cepeda-Arroita, R. et al.Advertised on:
52021 -
28-40 GHz variability and polarimetry of bright compact sources in the QUIJOTE cosmological fields
We observed 51 sources in the Q-U-I JOint TEnerife (QUIJOTE) cosmological fields that were brighter than 1 Jy at 30 GHz in the Planck Point Source Catalogue (version 1), with the Very Large Array at 28-40 GHz, in order to characterize their high-radio-frequency variability and polarization properties. We find a roughly lognormal distribution of
Perrott, Yvette C. et al.Advertised on:
42021 -
Progress Report on the Large-Scale Polarization Explorer
The large-scale polarization explorer (LSPE) is a cosmology program for the measurement of large-scale curl-like features (B-modes) in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background. Its goal is to constrain the background of inflationary gravity waves traveling through the universe at the time of matter-radiation decoupling. The two
Lamagna, L. et al.Advertised on:
42020 -
Updated Design of the CMB Polarization Experiment Satellite LiteBIRD
Recent developments of transition-edge sensors (TESs), based on extensive experience in ground-based experiments, have been making the sensor techniques mature enough for their application on future satellite cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiments. LiteBIRD is in the most advanced phase among such future satellites, targeting
Sugai, H. et al.Advertised on:
12020 -
GroundBIRD: A CMB Polarization Experiment with MKID Arrays
GroundBIRD is a ground-based experiment for a precise observation of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarizations. To achieve high sensitivity at large angular scales, we adopt three features in this experiment: fast rotation scanning, microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID), and cold optics. The rotation scanning strategy has the
Lee, K. et al.Advertised on:
82020 -
Feasibility of cosmic microwave background observations using radiometers based on whispering gallery mode resonators
The fundamentals of the whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonators are well established in the literature, with several successful proof-of-concept experiments. One remarkable benefit of this technology is the room-temperature operation. This characteristic could be used to build a new generation of radiometers that do not need to be cooled down to
De Miguel-Hernández, Javier et al.Advertised on:
72020 -
Manufacturing of 3D-metallic electromagnetic metamaterials for feedhorns usedin radioastronomy and satellite communications
The electromagnetic metamaterials at microwaves frequencies are well established in industrial applications nowadays. Recent research has shown that a specific kind of metallic metamaterial can contribute to improve the performance of the microwave feedhorns used in radioastronomy and satellite telecommunications. In this article, we theoretically
de Miguel-Hernández, J. et al.Advertised on:
102019 -
A High Sensitivity Fourier Transform Spectrometer for Cosmic Microwave Back-ground Observations
The QUIJOTE Experiment was developed to study the polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) over the frequency range of 10-50 GHz. Its first instrument, the Multi-Frequency-Instrument (MFI), measures in the range 10-20 GHz which coincides with one of the naturally transparent windows in the atmosphere. The Tenerife Microwave
de Miguel-Hernández, J. et al.Advertised on:
102019 -
Fundamentals of horn antennas with low cross-polarization levels for radioastronomy and satellite communications
The literature on horn antennas dedicated to radio astronomy and satellite communications applications is very extensive and at times disjointed, relevant contributions being distributed as far back as from the 60's until the present today. This work combines a compact but complete review of the different theories, methodologies and techniques used
De Miguel-Hernández, J. et al.Advertised on:
82019 -
QUIJOTE scientific results - III. Microwave spectrum of intensity and polarization in the Taurus Molecular Cloud complex and L1527
We present new intensity and polarization observations of the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC) region in the frequency range 10-20 GHz with the multifrequency instrument (MFI) mounted on the first telescope of the Q-U-I-JOint TEnerife (QUIJOTE) experiment. From the combination of the QUIJOTE data with the WMAP 9-yr data release, the Planck second data
Poidevin, F. et al.Advertised on:
62019 -
QUIJOTE scientific results - II. Polarisation measurements of the microwave emission in the Galactic molecular complexes W43 and W47 and supernova remnant W44
We present Q-U-I JOint TEnerife (QUIJOTE) intensity and polarisation maps at 10-20 GHz covering a region along the Galactic plane 24° ≲ l ≲ 45°, |b| ≲ 8°. These maps result from 210 h of data, have a sensitivity in polarisation of ≈40 μK beam-1 and an angular resolution of ≈1°. Our intensity data are crucial to confirm the presence of anomalous
Génova-Santos, R. et al.Advertised on:
22017 -
QUIJOTE scientific results - I. Measurements of the intensity and polarisation of the anomalous microwave emission in the Perseus molecular complex
In this paper, we present Q-U-I JOint Tenerife Experiment (QUIJOTE) 10-20 GHz observations (194 h in total over ≈250 deg2) in intensity and polarisation of G159.6-18.5, one of the most widely studied regions harbouring anomalous microwave emission (AME). By combining with other publicly available intensity data, we achieve the most precise spectrum
Vielva, P. et al.Advertised on:
102015
