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Session 62 - Workshop on the Future of Antarctic Astrophysics - II.
Topical, Oral session, Wednesday, June 10
Presidio,
The peculiar velocity field of galaxy clusters offers, in principle, a direct probe of the matter distribution in the universe. The precision with which the peculiar velocity of clusters can be determined using conventional astronomical techniques decreases with the distance of the cluster. In contrast, mm-wave observations of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) distortion to the spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) along the line of sight through the cluster provide a direct measure of the velocity of the cluster relative to the CMB rest frame with a precision that is independent of redshift, and thus promise to sample the peculiar velocity field over a large volume of the universe. Measurements made to date at the CSO on Mauna Kea have been limited by atmospheric noise to a precision of approximately 700 km/sec. The South Pole offers a far superior site for this work. An interesting survey of peculiar velocities could be accomplished using the existing Viper telescope. A 10 m telescope would allow even high redshift clusters to be resolved, and thus reach the ultimate limit of precision set by confusion with intrinsic CMB anistropy.
