Polarization of the sky in the millimetric and submillimetric range : status and forecast

Séminaire IPAG de Nicolas Ponthieu (IAS), jeudi 1er décembre 2011 à 11h00, IPAG seminar room

The measure of polarization in the millimeter and submillimeter wavelength range has become a very active field, especially in the past 10 years or so. It is needed by cosmologists who map the Cosmic Microwave Background and by astrophysicists who study the interstellar medium. The former look for traces of primordial gravitationnal waves generated during inflation in the earliest stages of the Universe, the latter derive constraints on the Galactic magnetic field, on dust grain and alignment models. In this seminar, I’ll review the physical grounds of CMB and Galactic polarization and give an overview of recent, on-going and future experimental projects that are dedicated to this measurement.