Impact of polarized foregrounds on LSPE-SWIPE observations

A first measurement of Cosmic Microwave Background B-mode polarization on large scales could provide a convincing confirmation of the existence of a primordial background of gravitational waves as predicted in the inflation scenario. A major obstacle to observe B-modes is represented by polarized foreground contamination from our Galaxy. In particular, thermal dust and synchrotron emission dominate over the primordial signal at high and low frequencies, respectively. Several experiments have been designed to observe B-mode polarization. Here, we focus on the forthcoming LSPE-SWIPE balloon experiment, devoted to the accurate observation of large scale CMB polarization, and present preliminary forecasts on the impact of foreground contamination on LSPE-SWIPE observations. Using the last release of Planck foreground maps as templates, we estimate the amplitude of dust and synchrotron emission in the sky region and at the frequency channels of interest for LSPE-SWIPE. Furthermore, we investigate the generation of polarization-optimized Galactic masks and we give preliminary indications on the requirements of component separation methods.