December 11, 2007 CMBPol Concept Study Meeting Notes

The larger community perception may be that systematics are the by far the biggest problem when the facts may be that the biggest problem are foregrounds.

There is a perception that technology is currently a show-stopper. This is not the case. Designing a mission to get the low \ell modes is not so difficult. This task should not be perceived as the key show stopper neither by our community nor by outsiders; certainly not for a mission that is scheduled to fly at the end of the decade.
(This point attempts to summarize the discussion that followed Harvey's comment)

The DoE computing facilities should be considered potential resources for CMBPol study numerical studies.

Simulations of systematics, foregrounds and scan strategies should all analyse the same template missions. Simulation machinery currently available and planned should be outlined to the group.

The parameter space for open-ended simulations is too large. Because of the short time scale it is best to carry out simulations that target very focused goals. Therefore doing simulations that support one (or both) template missions, including their focal plane configuration and scan strategy, should be the first priority.

There is a comment on the feasibility of even these simulations because the people who are currently the best candidates to carry them out are fully booked with other projects. We will have to scale our immediate ambitions so that we limit ourselves to defining important goals for the next decade rather than actually doing the next decade's research.

The question of angular resolution may need to include the question of whether to consider a ground-based large telescope together with a space-based experiment for the large angular scales. Could these be put together as a single "mission"

Analysis needs and computing requirements should be added into the list of issues.

The main point we must be able to make to the decadal is the importance of the science questions and the need to continue CMB research as outlined in the Weiss Report.