Collaborative Research: Probing dark matter, dark energy & inflation with 21 cm tomography

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)提供资金的。该项目包括实验和理论研究，旨在探测和解释再电离时代(EOR)的21厘米中性氢信号。该提案的理论部分将量化未来21厘米断层扫描数据如何准确地限制宇宙膨胀历史和暗能量、宇宙星系史和暗物质/中微子质量、原始非高斯主义和暴涨。实验部分将研究这一领域的一个新概念--射电望远镜，其元素位于规则网格上，通过使用快速傅立叶变换可以显著减少计算需求。与传统的无线电阵列相比，这是一种性价比很高的设计，该奖项将为继续开发原型望远镜阵列提供资金。这项提议的更广泛影响包括培训代表性不足的研究生、本科生项目，以及以高中讲座、流行演讲和宇宙学文章为特色的公共宣传。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This project involves experimental and theoretical studies geared toward detection and interpretation of 21-cm neutral hydrogen signatures of the Epoch of Reionization (EOR). The theoretical part of the proposal will quantify how accurately future 21 cm tomography data can constrain the cosmic expansion history and dark energy, the cosmic clustering history and dark matter/neutrino masses, primordial non-Gaussianity, and inflation. The experimental part will study a new concept in this field, a radio telescope with elements on a regular grid that can cut computing requirements significantly by using fast Fourier transforms. This is a highly cost-effective design relative to traditional radio arrays, and the award will fund continued development of a prototype telescope array. Broader impacts of this proposal include training of underrepresented graduate students, undergraduate student projects, and public outreach featuring high school lectures, popular talks, and articles on cosmology.