Astrophysical Polarized Backgrounds: Workshop on Astrophysical Polarized Backgrounds, Bologna, Italy, 9-12 October 2001 (AIP Conference Proceedings / Astronomy and Astrophysics)

During the last decades of the past century, several experiments measuring the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy spectrum (e.g. COBE, TOCO, BOOMeranG, MAXIMA, DASI, CBI) have contributed significantly to our understanding of the properties of our Universe. The next step forward will be the measurement of the CMB polarization, whose very weak signal represents a real challenge to experimentalists. Moreover, non-negligible contamination comes from polarized foreground emissions of galactic and extragalactic origin. Theorists, experts on the various foregrounds, and experiment builders gathered in this first workshop dedicated to the subject to discuss strategies to tackle the problem.