arXiv subjects

Kiyoshi W. Masui

Publications and source records attributed to Kiyoshi W. Masui.

97 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Packed Ultra-wideband Mapping Array (PUMA): A Radio Telescope for Cosmology and Transients

PUMA is a proposal for an ultra-wideband, low-resolution and transit interferometric radio telescope operating at $200-1100\,\mathrm{MHz}$. Its design is driven by six science goals which span three science themes: the physics of dark energy (measuring the expansion history and growth of the universe up to $z=6$), the physics of inflation (constraining primordial non-Gaussianity and primordial features) and the transient radio sky (detecting one million fast radio bursts and following up SKA-discovered pulsars). We propose two array configurations composed of hexagonally close-packed 6m dish arrangements with 50% fill factor. The initial 5,000 element 'petite array' is scientifically compelling, and can act as a demonstrator and a stepping stone to the full 32,000 element 'full array'. Viewed as a 21cm intensity mapping telescope, the program has the noise equivalent of a traditional spectroscopic galaxy survey comprised of 0.6 and 2.5 billion galaxies at a comoving wavenumber of $k=0.5\,h\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ spanning the redshift range $z = 0.3 - 6$ for the petite and full configurations, respectively. At redshifts beyond $z=2$, the 21cm technique is a uniquely powerful way of mapping the universe, while the low-redshift range will allow for numerous cross-correlations with existing and upcoming surveys. This program is enabled by the development of ultra-wideband radio feeds, cost-effective dish construction methods, commodity radio-frequency electronics driven by the telecommunication industry and the emergence of sufficient computing power to facilitate real-time signal processing that exploits the full potential of massive radio arrays. The project has an estimated construction cost of 55 and 330 million FY19 USD for the petite and full array configurations. Including R&D, design, operations and science analysis, the cost rises to 125 and 600 million FY19 USD, respectively.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Research and Development for HI Intensity Mapping

Development of the hardware, data analysis, and simulation techniques for large compact radio arrays dedicated to mapping the 21 cm line of neutral hydrogen gas has proven to be more difficult than imagined twenty years ago when such telescopes were first proposed. Despite tremendous technical and methodological advances, there are several outstanding questions on how to optimally calibrate and analyze such data. On the positive side, it has become clear that the outstanding issues are purely technical in nature and can be solved with sufficient development activity. Such activity will enable science across redshifts, from early galaxy evolution in the pre-reionization era to dark energy evolution at low redshift.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Algorithms for FFT Beamforming Radio Interferometers

Radio interferometers consisting of identical antennas arranged on a regular lattice permit fast Fourier transform beamforming, which reduces the correlation cost from $\mathcal{O}(n^2)$ in the number of antennas to $\mathcal{O}(n\log n)$. We develop a formalism for describing this process and apply this formalism to derive a number of algorithms with a range of observational applications. These include algorithms for forming arbitrarily pointed tied-array beams from the regularly spaced Fourier-transform formed beams, sculpting the beams to suppress sidelobes while only losing percent-level sensitivity, and optimally estimating the position of a detected source from its observed brightness in the set of beams. We also discuss the effect that correlations in the visibility-space noise, due to cross-talk and sky contributions, have on the optimality of Fourier transform beamforming, showing that it does not strictly preserve the sky information of the $n^2$ correlation, even for an idealized array. Our results have applications to a number of upcoming interferometers, in particular the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment--Fast Radio Burst (CHIME/FRB) project.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Observations of Fast Radio Bursts at Frequencies down to 400 Megahertz

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are highly dispersed millisecond-duration radio flashes likely arriving from far outside the Milky Way galaxy. This phenomenon was discovered at radio frequencies near 1.4 GHz and to date has been observed in one case at as high as 8 GHz, but not below 700 MHz in spite of significant searches at low frequencies. Here we report detections of FRBs at radio frequencies as low as 400 MHz, on the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) using the CHIME/FRB instrument. We present 13 FRBs detected during a telescope pre-commissioning phase, when our sensitivity and field-of-view were not yet at design specifications. Emission in multiple events is seen down to 400 MHz, the lowest radio frequency to which we are sensitive. The FRBs show a variety of temporal scattering behaviours, with the majority significantly scattered, and some apparently unscattered to within measurement uncertainty even at our lowest frequencies. Of the 13 reported here, one event has the lowest dispersion measure yet reported, implying it is among the closest yet known, and another has shown multiple repeat bursts, as described in a companion paper. Our low-scattering events suggest that efforts to detect FRBs at radio frequencies below 400 MHz will eventually be successful. The overall scattering properties of our sample suggest that FRBs as a class are preferentially located in environments that scatter radio waves more strongly than the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) in the Milky Way.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

The Spectrum of the Universe

The cosmic background (CB) radiation, encompassing the sum of emission from all sources outside our own Milky Way galaxy across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, is a fundamental phenomenon in observational cosmology. Many experiments have been conceived to measure it (or its constituents) since the extragalactic Universe was first discovered; in addition to estimating the bulk (cosmic monopole) spectrum, directional variations have also been detected over a wide range of wavelengths. Here we gather the most recent of these measurements and discuss the current status of our understanding of the CB from radio to $γ$-ray energies. Using available data in the literature we piece together the sky-averaged intensity spectrum, and discuss the emission processes responsible for what is observed. We examine the effect of perturbations to the continuum spectrum from atomic and molecular line processes and comment on the detectability of these signals. We also discuss how one could in principle obtain a complete census of the CB by measuring the full spectrum of each spherical harmonic expansion coefficient. This set of spectra of multipole moments effectively encodes the entire statistical history of nuclear, atomic and molecular processes in the Universe.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Holographic Beam Mapping of the CHIME Pathfinder Array

The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) Pathfinder radio telescope is currently surveying the northern hemisphere between 400 and 800 MHz. By mapping the large scale structure of neutral hydrogen through its redshifted 21 cm line emission between $z \sim 0.8-2.5$ CHIME will contribute to our understanding of Dark Energy. Bright astrophysical foregrounds must be separated from the neutral hydrogen signal, a task which requires precise characterization of the polarized telescope beams. Using the DRAO John A. Galt 26 m telescope, we have developed a holography instrument and technique for mapping the CHIME Pathfinder beams. We report the status of the instrument and initial results of this effort.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2016

Interpreting the unresolved intensity of cosmologically redshifted line radiation

Intensity mapping experiments survey the spectrum of diffuse line radiation rather than detect individual objects at high signal-to-noise. Spectral maps of unresolved atomic and molecular line radiation contain three-dimensional information about the density and environments of emitting gas, and efficiently probe cosmological volumes out to high redshift. Intensity mapping survey volumes also contain all other sources of radiation at the frequencies of interest. Continuum foregrounds are typically ~10^2-10^3 times brighter than the cosmological signal. The instrumental response to bright foregrounds will produce new spectral degrees of freedom that are not known in advance, nor necessarily spectrally smooth. The intrinsic spectra of foregrounds may also not be well-known in advance. We describe a general class of quadratic estimators to analyze data from single-dish intensity mapping experiments, and determine contaminated spectral modes from the data itself. The key attribute of foregrounds is not that they are spectrally smooth, but instead that they have fewer bright spectral degrees of freedom than the cosmological signal. Spurious correlations between the signal and foregrounds produce additional bias. Compensation for signal attenuation must estimate and correct this bias. A successful intensity mapping experiment will control instrumental systematics that spread variance into new modes, and it must observe a large enough volume that contaminant modes can be determined independently from the signal on scales of interest.

astro-ph.CO↗