Systematic forecasting for the Taurus CMB experiment

The balloon-borne Taurus experiment will measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) on large angular scales over the course of a month-long flight. This project is to create a python-based computational pipeline for determining the effects that a systematic error in polarization angle would have on subsequent uncertainty in measurements of the universe's optical depth to reionization τ. It will further validate the methods of power spectrum estimation to be employed by the experiment. By understanding these effects and mitigating errors, Taurus may break the degeneracy in the ΛCDM + ∑m_ν model, ultimately lowering the bound on the sum of neutrino masses ∑m_ν.