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In this paper, we present improvements to the pointing accuracy of the South Pole Telescope (SPT) using machine learning. The ability of the SPT to point accurately at the sky is limited by its structural imperfections, which are impacted by the extreme weather at the South Pole. Pointing accuracy is particularly important during SPT participation in observing campaigns with the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), which requires stricter accuracy than typical observations with the SPT. We compile a training dataset of historical observations of astronomical sources made with the SPT-3G and EHT receivers on the SPT. We train two XGBoost models to learn a mapping from current weather conditions to two telescope drive control arguments — one which corrects for errors in azimuth and the other for errors in elevation. Our trained models achieve root mean squared errors on withheld test data of 2[Formula: see text]14 in cross-elevation and 3[Formula: see text]57 in elevation, well below our goal of 5[Formula: see text] along each axis. We deploy our models on the telescope control system and perform further in situ test observations during the EHT observing campaign in April 2024. Our models result in significantly improved pointing accuracy: for sources within the range of input variables where the models are best trained, average combined pointing error improved 33%, from 15[Formula: see text]9 to 10[Formula: see text]6. These improvements, while significant, fall shy of our ultimate goal, but they serve as a proof of concept for the development of future models. Planned upgrades to the EHT receiver on the SPT will necessitate even stricter pointing accuracy which will be achievable with our methods. 

A semiclassical model describing the charge transfer collisions of C 60 fullerene with different slow ions has been developed to analyze available observations. These data reveal multiple Breit–Wigner-like peaks in the cross sections, with subsequent peaks of reactive cross sections decreasing in magnitude. Calculations of charge transfer probabilities, quasi-resonant cross sections, and cross sections for reactive collisions have been performed using semiempirical interaction potentials between fullerenes and ion projectiles. All computations have been carried out with realistic wave functions for C 60 ’s valence electrons derived from the simplified jellium model. The quality of these electron wave functions has been successfully verified by comparing theoretical calculations and experimental data on the small angle cross sections of resonant [Formula: see text] collisions. Using the semiempirical potentials to describe resonant scattering phenomena in C 60 collisions with ions and Landau–Zener charge transfer theory, we calculated theoretical cross sections for various C 60 charge transfer and fragmentation reactions which agree with experiments. 

Abstract We present the detection and characterization of fluctuations in linearly polarized emission from the atmosphere above the South Pole. These measurements make use of data from the SPT-3G receiver on the South Pole Telescope in three frequency bands centered at 95, 150, and 220 GHz. We use the cross-correlation between detectors to produce an unbiased estimate of the power in StokesI,Q, andUparameters on large angular scales. Our results are consistent with the polarized signal being produced by the combination of Rayleigh scattering of thermal radiation from the ground and thermal emission from a population of horizontally aligned ice crystals with an anisotropic distribution described by Kolmogorov turbulence. The measured spatial scaling, frequency scaling, and elevation dependence of the polarized emission are explained by this model. Polarized atmospheric emission has the potential to significantly impact observations on the large angular scales being targeted by searches for inflationary B-mode CMB polarization. We present the distribution of measured angular power spectrum amplitudes in StokesQandIfor 4 yr of Austral winter observations, which can be used to simulate the impact of atmospheric polarization and intensity fluctuations at the South Pole on a specified experiment and observation strategy. We present a mitigation strategy that involves both downweighting significantly contaminated observations and subtracting a polarized atmospheric signal from the 150 GHz band maps. In observations with the SPT-3G instrument, the polarized atmospheric signal is a well-understood and subdominant contribution to the measured noise after implementing the mitigation strategies described here. 

The detection of satellite thermal emission at millimeter wavelengths is presented using data from the 3rd-Generation receiver on the South Pole Telescope (SPT-3G). This represents the first reported detection of thermal emission from artificial satellites at millimeter wavelengths. Satellite thermal emission is shown to be detectable at high signal-to-noise on timescales as short as a few tens of milliseconds. An algorithm for downloading orbital information and tracking known satellites given observer constraints and time-ordered observatory pointing is described. Consequences for cosmological surveys and short-duration transient searches are discussed, revealing that the integrated thermal emission from all large satellites does not contribute significantly to the SPT-3G survey intensity map. Measured satellite positions are found to be discrepant from their two-line element (TLE) derived ephemerides up to several arcminutes which may present a difficulty in cross-checking or masking satellites from short-duration transient searches. 

Abstract The Summertime Line Intensity Mapper (SLIM) is a mm-wave line-intensity mapping (mm-LIM) experiment for the South Pole Telescope (SPT). The goal of SPT-SLIM is to serve as a technical and scientific pathfinder for the demonstration of the suitability and in-field performance of multi-pixel superconducting filterbank spectrometers for future mm-LIM experiments. Scheduled to deploy in the 2023-24 austral summer, the SPT-SLIM focal plane will include 18 dual-polarisation pixels, each coupled to an$$R = \lambda / \Delta \lambda = 300$$ $R=\lambda /\Delta \lambda =300$thin-film microstrip filterbank spectrometer that spans the 2 mm atmospheric window (120–180 GHz). Each individual spectral channel feeds a microstrip-coupled lumped-element kinetic inductance detector, which provides the highly multiplexed readout for the 10k detectors needed for SPT-SLIM. Here, we present an overview of the preliminary design of key aspects of the SPT-SLIM focal plane array, a description of the detector architecture and predicted performance, and initial test results that will be used to inform the final design of the SPT-SLIM spectrometer array.