The Impact of Polarized Extragalactic Radio Sources on the Detection of CMB Anisotropies in Polarization

Recent polarimetric surveys of extragalactic radio sources (ERS) at frequencies  ν≳1 GHz are reviewed. By exploiting all the most relevant data we study the frequency dependence of polarization properties of ERS between 1.4 and 86 GHz. For flat-spectrum sources the median (mean) fractional polarizat...

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Main Authors: Marco Tucci, Luigi Toffolatti
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2012-01-01
Series:Advances in Astronomy
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/624987
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author Marco Tucci
Luigi Toffolatti
author_facet Marco Tucci
Luigi Toffolatti
author_sort Marco Tucci
collection DOAJ
description Recent polarimetric surveys of extragalactic radio sources (ERS) at frequencies  ν≳1 GHz are reviewed. By exploiting all the most relevant data we study the frequency dependence of polarization properties of ERS between 1.4 and 86 GHz. For flat-spectrum sources the median (mean) fractional polarization increases from 1.5% (2–2.5%) at 1.4 GHz to 2.5–3% (3–3.5%) at ν>10 GHz. Steep-spectrum sources are typically more polarized, especially at high frequencies where Faraday depolarization is less relevant. Current data suggest that at high radio frequencies (ν≥20) GHz the fractional polarization of ERS does not depend on total flux density and moderately increases with frequency. We estimate ERS number counts in polarization and the contribution of unresolved polarized ERS to angular power spectra. A first application is for the Planck satellite mission: we predict that only a dozen polarized ERS will be detected by the Planck LFI, and a few tens by the HFI. As for CMB power spectra, ERS should not be a strong contaminant to the CMB E-mode polarization at ν≳70 GHz, but they can become a relevant constraint for the detection of the cosmological B-mode polarization if the tensor-to-scalar ratio is ≲0.01.
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spelling doaj-art-7bde3cb5a49143ff99be4986deccbe352025-08-20T02:06:57ZengWileyAdvances in Astronomy1687-79691687-79772012-01-01201210.1155/2012/624987624987The Impact of Polarized Extragalactic Radio Sources on the Detection of CMB Anisotropies in PolarizationMarco Tucci0Luigi Toffolatti1LAL, Université Paris-Sud and CNRS/IN2P3, 91400 Orsay, FranceDepartamento de Física, Universidad de Oviedo, C. Calvo Sotelo s/n, 33007 Oviedo, SpainRecent polarimetric surveys of extragalactic radio sources (ERS) at frequencies  ν≳1 GHz are reviewed. By exploiting all the most relevant data we study the frequency dependence of polarization properties of ERS between 1.4 and 86 GHz. For flat-spectrum sources the median (mean) fractional polarization increases from 1.5% (2–2.5%) at 1.4 GHz to 2.5–3% (3–3.5%) at ν>10 GHz. Steep-spectrum sources are typically more polarized, especially at high frequencies where Faraday depolarization is less relevant. Current data suggest that at high radio frequencies (ν≥20) GHz the fractional polarization of ERS does not depend on total flux density and moderately increases with frequency. We estimate ERS number counts in polarization and the contribution of unresolved polarized ERS to angular power spectra. A first application is for the Planck satellite mission: we predict that only a dozen polarized ERS will be detected by the Planck LFI, and a few tens by the HFI. As for CMB power spectra, ERS should not be a strong contaminant to the CMB E-mode polarization at ν≳70 GHz, but they can become a relevant constraint for the detection of the cosmological B-mode polarization if the tensor-to-scalar ratio is ≲0.01.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/624987
spellingShingle Marco Tucci
Luigi Toffolatti
The Impact of Polarized Extragalactic Radio Sources on the Detection of CMB Anisotropies in Polarization
Advances in Astronomy
title The Impact of Polarized Extragalactic Radio Sources on the Detection of CMB Anisotropies in Polarization
title_full The Impact of Polarized Extragalactic Radio Sources on the Detection of CMB Anisotropies in Polarization
title_fullStr The Impact of Polarized Extragalactic Radio Sources on the Detection of CMB Anisotropies in Polarization
title_full_unstemmed The Impact of Polarized Extragalactic Radio Sources on the Detection of CMB Anisotropies in Polarization
title_short The Impact of Polarized Extragalactic Radio Sources on the Detection of CMB Anisotropies in Polarization
title_sort impact of polarized extragalactic radio sources on the detection of cmb anisotropies in polarization
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/624987
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