Collaborative Research: Disentangling the Cosmic Web with Fast Radio Bursts

合作研究：用快速射电爆发解开宇宙网

• 批准号: 1911140
• 负责人: Jason Prochaska
• 金额: $ 32.05万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Cruz
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1911140&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Disentangling; Cosmic; Web

For many years, astronomers have been trying to understand and observe the diffuse gas between galaxies, also known as the intergalactic medium (IGM) or -- more colloquially -- the cosmic web. A research collaboration between the University of California-Santa Cruz (UCSC) and the Maria Mitchell Observatory (MMO) will use precise observations of a recently discovered type of short astronomical event called fast radio bursts (FRBs) to investigate and attempt to disentangle the cosmic web. This project will involve the acquisition and analysis of optical and infrared follow-up observations of over 100 well-localized FRBs, discovered using the leading FRB experiments for precise localization (ASKAP, realfast, and DSA-110) and then observed with large aperture telescopes. Using the planned dataset, the astronomers will focus on three main activities: (i) obtain follow-up imaging and spectroscopy of the galaxies hosting FRBs, (ii) resolve the distribution of ionized gas in the Local Group of galaxies, and (iii) disentangle the cosmic web. The project will support the education and training of a full-time PhD student at UCSC in observational astronomy. The Bridge program at MMO, meanwhile, will provide postgraduate students from underrepresented communities the opportunity to build the skill set (e.g. programming, statistics, observing) needed to transition into a PhD program. Numerical simulations on cosmological scales (~100 Mpc) now purport to capture all of the salient physics required to accurately predict the astrophysics of the IGM. These simulations predict that about 50% of the gas is in a warm-hot ionized medium (WHIM), shock-heated during its collapse onto large-scale structures. Despite several decades of observational searches for the WHIM, however, it remains the most elusive baryonic reservoir of the universe. Meanwhile, on the scales of individual dark matter halos (~100 -- 1000 kpc), theorists debate on the mass and distribution of gas within them. The program will leverage a new opportunity to disentangle the cosmic web through a comprehensive, observational survey of FRB events. The three main research areas arising from the three observational activities listed above are: (i) establish the FRB redshift and provide new insights into the progenitors that generate these enigmatic phenomena; (ii) use the observed FRB dispersion measures to perform a series of experiments designed to survey the halo gas of our Galaxy and M31, while also searching for the putative Local Group medium; and (iii) directly test the modern paradigm for the IGM (and its WHIM) and assess the baryon fraction of dark matter halos as a function of their mass, morphology, and environment. To support the great breadth of science derived from FRB observations beyond the focus of the project, all of the data obtained with this program will be disseminated to the community through one or more channels.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

多年来，天文学家一直试图了解和观察星系之间的扩散气体，也被称为星际介质(IGM)，或者更通俗地说，是宇宙网。加州大学圣克鲁斯分校(UCSC)和玛丽亚·米切尔天文台(MMO)之间的一项研究合作将使用对最近发现的一种名为快速射电爆发(FRB)的短天文事件的精确观测来调查和尝试解开宇宙网。该项目将包括获取和分析100多个定位良好的FRB的光学和红外后续观测，这些FRB是利用领先的FRB精确定位实验(ASKAP、realfast和DSA-110)发现的，然后用大口径望远镜进行观测。利用计划中的数据集，天文学家们将专注于三项主要活动：(1)获得FRB所在星系的后续成像和光谱；(2)解决局部星系团中的电离气体分布问题；(3)解开宇宙网。该项目将支持加州大学圣迭戈分校一名全日制博士生在观测天文学方面的教育和培训。与此同时，MMO的Bridge项目将为来自代表性不足社区的研究生提供机会，以建立过渡到博士项目所需的技能集(例如编程、统计、观察)。宇宙学尺度上的数值模拟(~100MPC)现在声称能够捕捉到准确预测IGM天体物理学所需的所有显著物理学。这些模拟预测，大约50%的气体处于温热的电离介质(WHIM)中，在其坍塌到大型结构上时受到冲击加热。然而，尽管经过几十年的观测寻找这种奇想，它仍然是宇宙中最难以捉摸的重子蓄水池。与此同时，在单个暗物质晕(约100-1000kpc)的尺度上，理论家们就其中气体的质量和分布展开了辩论。该计划将利用一个新的机会，通过对FRB事件的全面、观察性调查来理清宇宙网络。上述三项观测活动产生的三个主要研究领域是：(I)建立FRB红移并提供关于产生这些谜团现象的前体的新的见解；(Ii)利用观测到的FRB色散测量数据执行一系列实验，旨在测量我们银河系和M31的晕气体，同时还搜索假定的本族族介质；以及(Iii)直接测试IGM(及其突发事件)的现代范式，并评估暗物质晕的重子分数随其质量、形态和环境的变化。为了支持从FRB观测中获得的超出项目重点的科学广度，该计划获得的所有数据将通过一个或多个渠道传播给社区。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

A Distant Fast Radio Burst Associated with Its Host Galaxy by the Very Large Array

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aba4ac
• 发表时间: 2020-08-01
• 期刊: ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
• 影响因子: 4.9
• 作者: Law, Casey J.;Butler, Bryan J.;Simha, Sunil
• 通讯作者: Simha, Sunil

Spectropolarimetric Analysis of FRB 181112 at Microsecond Resolution: Implications for Fast Radio Burst Emission Mechanism

• DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ab7824
• 发表时间: 2020-03-10
• 期刊: ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
• 影响因子: 7.9
• 作者: Cho, Hyerin;Macquart, Jean-Pierre;Tuthill, John
• 通讯作者: Tuthill, John

Chronicling the Host Galaxy Properties of the Remarkable Repeating FRB 20201124A

• DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac242b
• 发表时间: 2021-10-01
• 期刊: ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
• 影响因子: 7.9
• 作者: Fong, Wen-fai;Dong, Yuxin;Tejos, Nicolas
• 通讯作者: Tejos, Nicolas

WALLABY Pilot Survey: H i in the Host Galaxy of a Fast Radio Burst

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/acc1e3
• 发表时间: 2023-05
• 期刊: The Astrophysical Journal
• 作者: M. Głowacki;K. Lee-Waddell;A. Deller;N. Deg;A. Gordon;J. A. Grundy;L. Marnoch;A. Shen;S. Ryder;R. Shannon;O. I. Wong;H. Dénes;B. Koribalski;C. Murugeshan;J. Rhee;T. Westmeier;S. Bhandari;A. Bosma;B. Holwerda;J. Prochaska

Constraining bright optical counterparts of fast radio bursts

限制快速射电爆发的明亮光学对应物

• DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202141110
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Astronomy & Astrophysics
• 影响因子: 6.5
• 作者: Núñez, C.;Tejos, N.;Pignata, G.;Kilpatrick, C. D.;Prochaska, J. X.;Heintz, K. E.;Bannister, K. W.;Bhandari, S.;Day, C. K.;Deller, A. T.
• 通讯作者: Deller, A. T.