LiteBIRD (Lite satellite for the studies of B-mode polarization and Inflation from cosmic background Radiation Detection) is a JAXA’s strategic large mission candidate in Phase-A1 (concept development).
LiteBIRD has the goal of being a very focused mission to test inflation with all-sky surveys of CMB polarization. Primordial gravitational waves, emitted during the cosmic inflation era (around 10–35 sec after the beginning of the Universe), are expected to be imprinted in the CMB polarization map as special patterns, called the “B-mode”.
The IFCA group of Observational Cosmology and Instrumentation participates in the LiteBIRD mission selected this July by the Japanese space agency JAXA. The group is contributing to the calibration, systematics and foregrounds working groups. In particular, the group is proposing a calibration (nano)satellite to calibrate the LiteBIRD instruments in flight.
