Kavli Affiliate: Patricia Burchat | Summary:Wavelength-dependent point spread functions (PSFs) violate an implicit assumption in current galaxy shape measurement algorithms that deconvolve the PSF measured from stars (which have stellar spectral energy distributions (SEDs)) from images of galaxies (which have galactic SEDs). Since the absorption length of silicon depends on wavelength, CCDs are a potential […]
Kavli Affiliate: Blas Cabrera | Summary:CDMS II data from the 5-tower runs at the Soudan Underground Laboratory were reprocessed with an improved charge-pulse fitting algorithm. Two new analysis techniques to reject surface-event backgrounds were applied to the 612 kg days germanium-detector WIMP-search exposure. An extended analysis was also completed by decreasing the 10 keV analysis […]
Kavli Affiliate: Blas Cabrera | Summary:We examine the consequences of the effective field theory (EFT) of dark matter-nucleon scattering for current and proposed direct detection experiments. Exclusion limits on EFT coupling constants computed using the optimum interval method are presented for SuperCDMS Soudan, CDMS II, and LUX, and the necessity of combining results from multiple […]
Kavli Affiliate: Andrew Rasmussen | Summary:We build on previous efforts to model CCD sensors, during illumination and collection of conversions. We use a finite summation of simple, electrostatic field models. The upgraded functionality of our framework provides specific predictions for perturbations in pixel boundary enclosures (e.g., at the backside window) and the bookkeeping capability to […]
Kavli Affiliate: Philip Marshall | Summary:We present first results from the third GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing (GREAT3) challenge, the third in a sequence of challenges for testing methods of inferring weak gravitational lensing shear distortions from simulated galaxy images. GREAT3 was divided into experiments to test three specific questions, and included simulated space- and ground-based […]
Kavli Affiliate: Andrew Rasmussen | Summary:Near-future astronomical survey experiments, such as LSST, possess system requirements of unprecedented fidelity that span photometry, astrometry and shape transfer. Some of these requirements flow directly to the array of science imaging sensors at the focal plane. Availability of high quality characterization data acquired in the course of our sensor […]
Kavli Affiliate: Homer Neal | Summary:The Heavy Photon Search (HPS), an experiment to search for a hidden sector photon in fixed target electroproduction, is preparing for installation at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) in the Fall of 2014. As the first stage of this project, the HPS Test Run apparatus was constructed and […]
Kavli Affiliate: Philip H. Scherrer | Summary:The Solar Orbiter mission, to be launched in July 2017, will carry a suite of remote sensing and in-situ instruments, including the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI). PHI will deliver high-cadence images of the Sun in intensity and Doppler velocity suitable for carrying out novel helioseismic studies. The orbit […]
Kavli Affiliate: Philip H. Scherrer | Summary:Line-of-sight magnetograms from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) are analyzed using a diagnostic known as the "Magnetic Range of Influence," or MRoI. The MRoI is a measure of the length over which a photospheric magnetogram is balanced and so its application gives […]
Kavli Affiliate: Aaron Roodman | Summary:The GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing 3 (GREAT3) challenge is the third in a series of image analysis challenges, with a goal of testing and facilitating the development of methods for analyzing astronomical images that will be used to measure weak gravitational lensing. This measurement requires extremely precise estimation of very […]