Patrick Koch (Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics)

The AMiBA project - Patrick Koch Colloquium

ATNF Marsfield Lecture Theatre

Abstract

As a dual-channel, 86-102 GHz interferometer array of up to 19 elements,
the Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy (AMiBA) is designed to have
full polarization capabilities, sampling structures greater than 2 arc minutes
in size. AMiBA targets specifically the distribution of clusters of galaxies
via the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect and the temperature anisotropies of the
Cosmic Microwave Background in the l-range of about l=1000-8000.
AMiBA is sited on Mauna Loa in Hawaii, at an elevation of 3,400m.
After a commissioning phase in 2006, first SZ clusters were detected and
imaged in 2007 with the 7-element AMiBA. The array has been upgraded to
13 elements with larger antennas in 2009 and science observations have
resumed. We give an instrument overview, present first SZ cluster results
and project ahead for the next observing run.