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Lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors (LEKIDs) are an attractive technology for millimeter-wave observations that require large arrays of extremely low-noise detectors. We designed, fabricated and characterized 64-element (128 LEKID) arrays of horn-coupled, dual-polarization LEKIDs optimized for ground-based CMB polarimetry. Our devices are sensitive to two orthogonal polarizations in a single spectral band centered on 150 GHz with $\Delta\nu/\nu=0.2$. The $65\times 65$ mm square arrays are designed to be tiled into the focal plane of an optical system. We demonstrate the viability of these dual-polarization LEKIDs with laboratory measurements. The LEKID modules are tested with an FPGA-based readout system in a sub-kelvin cryostat that uses a two-stage adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator. The devices are characterized using a blackbody and a millimeter-wave source. The polarization properties are measured with a cryogenic stepped half-wave plate. We measure the resonator parameters and the detector sensitivity, noise spectrum, dynamic range, and polarization response. The resonators have internal quality factors approaching $1\times 10^{6}$. The detectors have uniform response between orthogonal polarizations and a large dynamic range. The detectors are photon-noise limited above 1 pW of absorbed power. The noise-equivalent temperatures under a 3.4 K blackbody load are $80%. The entire array is multiplexed on a single readout line, demonstrating a multiplexing factor of 128. The array and readout meet the requirements for 4 arrays to be read out simultaneously for a multiplexing factor of 512. This laboratory study demonstrates the first dual-polarization LEKID array optimized for CMB polarimetry and shows the readiness of the detectors for on-sky observations., Comment: Accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysics, revised version. 11 pages, 8 figures

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is an international project for a next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory. CTA, conceived as an array of tens of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, comprising small, medium and large-size telescopes, is aiming to improve on the sensitivity of current-generation experiments by an order of magnitude and provide energy coverage from 20 GeV to more than 300 TeV. The Schwarzschild-Couder (SC) medium-size candidate telescope model features a novel aplanatic two-mirror optical design capable of a wide field-of-view with significantly improved imaging resolution as compared to the traditional Davis-Cotton optics design. Achieving this imaging resolution imposes strict alignment requirements to be accomplished by a dedicated alignment system. In this contribution we present the status of the development of the SC optical alignment system, soon to be materialized in a full-scale prototype SC medium-size telescope at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona., In Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherlands. All CTA contributions at arXiv:1508.05894

We present an analysis of multifrequency measurements ofatmospheric emission in the Rayleigh-Jeans portion of the cosmicmicrowave background spectrum (1-90 GHz) taken since 1986 from WhiteMountain, CA, and from the South Pole. Correlations of simultaneous dataat 10 and 90 GHz and accurate low-frequency measurements show goodagreement with model predictions for both sites. Our data from the SouthPole 1989 campaign combined with real-time measurements of the localatmospheric profiles provide accurate verification of the expectedindependent contributions of H2O and O2 emission. We show that variationson the order of 10 percent of the oxygen emission (both resonant andnonresonant components) are present on timescales of hours to days,mainly due to the evolution of the atmospheric pressure profile. Oxygenemission fluctuations appear larger than previously expected and may havesignificant consequences for ground-based cosmic microwave backgroundexperiments.