Collaborative Research: Booming or Beaming? Sorting out the Dynamic Radio Universe

AST-1008213/1008353/1009421 Chatterjee/Kaplan/Bower对不同波长的时变天空的研究揭示了大量意想不到的现象，其中一些具有巨大的科学影响，如射电望远镜和伽马射线爆发。 在无线电波长方面，一直缺乏大规模和敏感的检查，大面积的发现空间仍未探索。 该项目将探测和确定甚大阵列档案记录中的瞬态和可变源的特征，甚大阵列是一个跨越30年的大型现有资源，是用目前运行的最灵敏的干涉仪望远镜获得的。 在此过程中开发的算法，软件管道和专业知识将应用于扩展的超大阵列（EVLA）的新观测，它们将为新望远镜的下一代宽视场，高灵敏度调查提供算法门户。 大学合作将与国家射电天文台合作，（i）在VLA档案的本地副本上开发和部署自动化软件管道，（ii）构建算法以检测和分类档案中的瞬态和可变射电源，（iii）对感兴趣的源进行多波长跟踪观测，及（iv）发展统计描述及更深入了解无线电瞬变天空的物理过程。 这项研究将发现许多新的例子，已知类的瞬态源，允许定量分析，并有可能发现尚未未知的源类，从而建立一个更全面的表征和更深入的物理理解的动态无线电天空。 目标群体至少包括褐矮星、低质量恒星、附近的太阳系外木星行星、中子星、X射线双星、微类星体、射电超新星和隐藏的伽马射线爆发的孤儿射电余辉。下一代射电望远镜正在建造或开发中，有望在天空覆盖范围、灵敏度和数据速率方面实现量子飞跃。 通过开发，测试和部署存档数据的算法和软件管道，这项研究是处理这些新的大型调查的重要一步，特别是因为它将测试实时射电天文学应用中软件管道的操作。 它还将在这个新兴领域培养研究生和博士后研究人员，并让本科生参与实践研究。 与高中生和公众的外展活动将展示“不变”的天堂实际上是动态的，充满了动荡，暴力和神秘。

AST-1008213/1008353/1009421Chatterjee/Kaplan/BowerStudies of the time-variable sky at various wavelengths have revealed a vast range of unexpected phenomena, some of which have had enormous scientific impact, such as radio pulsars and gamma-ray bursters. At radio wavelengths, large-scale and sensitive examinations have been lacking, and large regions of discovery space remain unexplored. This project will detect and characterize transient and variable sources in the archival record of the Very Large Array (VLA), a large existing resource spanning 30 years, obtained with the most sensitive interferometric telescope in operation today. The algorithms, software pipelines, and expertise developed in the process will be applied to new observations with the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA), and they will provide an algorithmic portal to the next generation of wide-field, high sensitivity surveys with new telescopes. The university collaboration will work with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory to (i) develop and deploy automated software pipelines on local copies of the VLA archive, (ii) construct algorithms to detect and classify transient and variable radio sources in the archive, (iii) conduct multi-wavelength follow-up observations of sources of interest, and (iv) develop a statistical description and a deeper understanding of the physical processes underlying the radio transient sky. This study will find many new examples of known classes of transient sources, allowing for quantitative analysis, and is likely to discover as-yet-unknown source classes, thus building to a fuller characterization and deeper physical understanding of the dynamic radio sky. The target population includes at least brown dwarfs, low mass stars, nearby extra-solar Jovian planets, neutron stars, X-ray binaries, micro-quasars, radio supernovae and orphan radio afterglows of hidden gamma-ray bursts.The next generation of radio telescopes is now under construction or development, promising a quantum leap in sky coverage, sensitivity, and data rates. By developing, testing, and deploying algorithms and software pipelines on archival data, this research is an essential step toward handling those new large surveys, especially since it will test the operation of software pipelines in real-time radio astronomy applications. It will also train graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in this burgeoning field, and involve undergraduate students in hands-on research. Outreach activities with high school students and the general public will show how the 'unchanging' heavens are in fact dynamic, full of upheaval, violence, and mystery.