The Large-Scale Polarization Explorer (LSPE)

Understand

The LSPE is a balloon-borne mission aimed at measuring the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at large angular scales, and in particular to constrain the curl component of CMB polarization (B-modes) produced by tensor perturbations generated during cosmic inflation, in the very early universe.

• Its primary target is to improve the limit on the ratio of tensor to scalar perturbations amplitudes down to r = 0.03, at 99.7% confidence.
• A second target is to produce wide maps of foreground polarization generated in our Galaxy by synchrotron emission and interstellar dust emission.
• These will be important to map Galactic magnetic fields and to study the properties of ionized gas and of diffuse interstellar dust in our Galaxy.