The LiteBIRD mission to explore cosmic inflation

• Main Authors: Adler, A, Aizawa, K, Akamatsu, H, Akizawa, R, Aumont, J, Baccigalupi, C, Barreiro, R. B, Basak, S, Basyrov, A, Beckman, S, Bortolami, M, Carinos, E, Carones, A, Casas, F. J, Cheung, K, Clermont, L, Columbro, F, Coppolecchia, A, de Bernardis, P, de la Hoz, E, De Petris, M, Della Torre, S, Monache, G. Delle, Di Giorgi, E, Dickinson, C, García, J. J. Díaz, Dotani, T, D'Alessandro, G, Eriksen, H. K, Essinger-Hileman, T, Farias, N, Franceschet, C, Galloway, M, Ganga, K, Gerbino, M, Gervasi, M, Génova-Santos, R. T, González, R. González, Gruppuso, A, Halverson, N. W, Hargrave, P, Harper, S. E, Henrot-Versillé, S, Hergt, L. T, Hivon, E, Hoang, T. D, Ichiki, K, Ikuma, K, Ishino, H, Jaehnig, G, Jost, B, Kohri, K, Konishi, K, Levrier, F, Lonappan, A. I, Macias-Perez, J, Maffei, B, Marchitelli, E, Martínez-González, E, Migliaccio, M, Monelli, M, Montier, L, Morgante, G, Mousset, L, Nagano, Y, Nagata, R, Noviello, F, Omae, R, Paiella, A, Pascual-Cisneros, G, Patanchon, G, Pavlidou, V, Piacentini, F, Piat, M, Pinchera, M, Pisano, G, Porcelli, L, Raffuzzi, N, Raum, C, Remazeilles, M, Ritacco, A, Ruiz-Granda, M, Sakurai, Y, Savini, G, Sekimoto, Y, Shiraishi, M, Sullivan, R. M, Takakura, H, Takakura, S, Tassis, K, Thompson, K. L, Tristram, M, Tucker, C, Vacher, L, van Tent, B, Watanuki, K, Westbrook, B, Weymann-Despres, G, Winter, B, Zacchei, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 04-06-2024
• Subjects: Physics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics; Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors; Physics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2406.02724

LiteBIRD, the next-generation cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment,
aims for a launch in Japan's fiscal year 2032, marking a major advancement in
the exploration of primordial cosmology and fundamental physics. Orbiting the
Sun-Earth Lagrangian point L2, this JAXA-led strategic L-class mission will
conduct a comprehensive mapping of the CMB polarization across the entire sky.
During its 3-year mission, LiteBIRD will employ three telescopes within 15
unique frequency bands (ranging from 34 through 448 GHz), targeting a
sensitivity of 2.2\,$\mu$K-arcmin and a resolution of 0.5$^\circ$ at 100\,GHz.
Its primary goal is to measure the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ with an
uncertainty $\delta r = 0.001$, including systematic errors and margin. If $r
\geq 0.01$, LiteBIRD expects to achieve a $>5\sigma$ detection in the
$\ell=$2-10 and $\ell=$11-200 ranges separately, providing crucial insight into
the early Universe. We describe LiteBIRD's scientific objectives, the
application of systems engineering to mission requirements, the anticipated
scientific impact, and the operations and scanning strategies vital to
minimizing systematic effects. We will also highlight LiteBIRD's synergies with
concurrent CMB projects.