Detecting Cosmic Reionization via Low-Frequency Interferometry

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Dr. Aaron Parsons is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of California-Berkeley (UCB). The research centers on the design and implementation of the Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER), a low-frequency interferometer that aims to detect the power spectrum of fluctuations in the brightness temperature of redshifted 21-cm emission in the 120-200 MHz band, corresponding to redshifts 11 z 6. Dr. Parsons will: (1) develop PAPER instrumentation, including correlator research within UCB's Center for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics Research (CASPER), enabling PAPER's expansion to 32-, 64-, and 128-antenna deployments over the next three years; (2) improve calibration and imaging of PAPER data as part of an open-source software toolkit for high dynamic-range imaging with low-frequency interferometers; and (3) characterize interfering astrophysical foregrounds, optimizing antenna configuration within the array for detecting the Epoch of Reionization signal relative to these foregrounds, and setting increasingly sensitive bounds on the 21-cm fluctuations from cosmic reionization.Dr. Parsons will also develop a cross-disciplinary undergraduate lab class focusing on the principles of radios, signal processing and wireless communications, and a public outreach exhibit using a broadband spectrometer to monitor radio interference as part of an effort to raise awareness of "dark sky" issues in radio astronomy.