One of the primary challenges facing next-generation cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments is the characterization and removal of astrophysical foregrounds. Polarized synchrotron and thermal dust emission dominate over the expected primordial B-mode signal across all frequencies. In addition, when the known foregrounds of thermal dust, synchrotron, and free-free emission are removed, a residual signal remains which is known as anomalous microwave emission (AME). This component is strongly spatially correlated with thermal dust emission, however despite having been discovered over 25 years ago it has not yet been uniquely linked to any known constituent of the interstellar medium. Despite being constrained to be less than 1% polarized, AME may still be a relevant foreground for increasingly sensitive next-generation CMB experiments aimed at testing inflation. Understanding the physics of AME is vital for improving foreground models.
In this talk, I investigate AME and its possible connection to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). To do this, I create a full-sky map of PAH emission at 3.3 um using archival data from the COBE Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) instrument. This map enables direct comparison with Planck measurements of AME across a variety of astrophysical environments.
