Simulation of the effects of vibration in CMB experiments

Since the first discovery of the CMB, observations of its properties have been made in greater and greater detail due to their incredible usefulness to cosmology. Of particular interest to modern cosmology is the polarisation of the CMB, and in 2008 the QUBIC collaboration was founded as one of many ideas to measure this polarisation. However, measuring the polarisation of the CMB is an exceptionally challenging task, and many possible sources of error exist which could affect the validity of the results of these experiments. One such problem is the effect of the vibration of the instrument caused by its own mechanical movements. This thesis explores the possible effects of this vibration, using the simulation software MODAL, developed by the university of Maynooth and the QUBIC sim- ulation pipeline, written by the QUBIC collaboration team. The effect of vibra- tions on the CMB cross polarisation spectra is identified in this work. This thesis also includes research into measuring vibrations in a cryostat at the University of Manchester, using the technique of laser self mixing. The magni- tude of these vibrations is recorded.