Probing the Epoch of Reionization by Intensity Mapping Ionized Carbon ([CII]) with TIME-Pilot

阿比盖尔·克里特斯被授予NSF天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，以在加州理工学院开展一项研究和教育计划。Crites将致力于开发层析电离碳强度映射实验(TIME-Pilot)，这是一种新的仪器，旨在测量早期宇宙中电离碳的特征。这一新仪器将提高我们对宇宙快速演化时期恒星形成历史的理解。计划中的测量将限制恒星形成的密度，并将电离碳探测技术确立为探索宇宙形成早期历史的一种新的、可行的方法。除了这项工作，Crites还将开展一项外展工作，首先包括访问洛杉矶地区的公立高中，提供广泛的科学入门知识，然后在夏季让1-2名学生到Time-Pilot小组的实验室工作。层析电离碳强度图实验(TIME-Pilot)是一种新型的低温毫米波光谱仪，用于测量157.7微米电离碳[CII]发射线在再电离和一氧化碳再电离时期的团簇波动，以及在恒星形成速率峰值时期的一氧化碳。这将通过绘制[CII]的强度图来实现，以便探测星系团的波动并测试从最早的矮小星系预测的微弱发射的[CII]幅度。利用时间导航仪进行[CII]探测将限制EoR恒星形成的密度，并将使[CII]发射成为理解EoR的一个可行的新工具。Crites将侧重于完成时间试点仪器的开发，并从需要适应的前台对系统影响进行分析，以便提取[CII]信号。参加推广计划的高中生将接受描述科学实践的课堂访问，随后一小部分学生将被邀请在暑假期间与Time-Pilot小组的实验室一起工作，体验实践。

Abigail Crites is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the California Institute of Technology. Crites will work on the development of the Tomographic Ionized Carbon Intensity Mapping Experiment (TIME-Pilot), a new instrument designed to measure signatures of ionized carbon in the early universe. This new instrument will improve our understanding of the history of star formation during a poorly studied period when the universe was evolving rapidly. The planned measurements will constrain the density of star formation and establish the technique of ionized carbon detection as a new, viable way of probing the early history of the forming universe. Alongside this work, Crites will conduct an outreach effort that first includes visits to Los Angeles area public high schools to provide a broad introduction to science, followed by bringing 1 - 2 students to work in the TIME-Pilot group's laboratory during the summer. The Tomographic Ionized Carbon Intensity Mapping Experiment (TIME-Pilot) is a new cryogenic, mm-wavelength spectrometer designed to measure clustering fluctuations in the 157.7 micrometer ionized carbon [CII] emission line during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) and carbon monoxide in the epoch of peak star formation rate. This will be accomplished through intensity mapping of [CII] in order to detect clustering fluctuations and test the predicted [CII] amplitudes of faint emission from the earliest dwarf galaxies. A [CII] detection with TIME-Pilot would constrain the density of EoR star formation and would make [CII] emission a viable new tool for understanding the EoR. Crites will focus on both completing the development of the TIME-Pilot instrument and conducting an analysis of the systematic effects from the foreground that will need to be accommodated in order to extract the [CII] signal. High school students in the outreach program will receive classroom visits describing the practice of science, followed by a small number of students being invited to work with the TIME-Pilot group's laboratory for hands-on experience during the summer.