Collaborative Research: 21 cm Reionization Science with the MWA

再电离时期（EoR）是宇宙早期的一段时间，人们认为这段时间是第一批恒星和星系形成的时期。 了解EoR期间星系形成和反馈的物理学是现代宇宙学和天体物理学的关键目标之一。在早期宇宙中对中性氢的观测有可能彻底改变我们对这些第一批恒星和星系的理解。这项工作将改善Murchison Widefield Array望远镜的数据分析，使研究人员能够更好地检测这种微弱信号，使观测更加有用，并为从事类似项目的研究人员提供工具。 此外，这项工作将继续并扩大为非传统本科生提供研究经验的举措。本科研究是学生为研究生院和更广泛的STEM劳动力职位做准备的重要组成部分。为非传统本科生提供这种研究经验将使更多的人能够继续攻读研究生，增加更广泛的STEM社区的多样性。该奖项支持成功的EoR分析团队的持续工作。在过去的四年中，美国成像功率谱（PS）团队的创新推动了该领域的发展，并导致了世界上最深的EoR PS限制。研究人员将采取下一步措施，利用Murchison Widefield Array（MWA）数据将限制降低另一个数量级。 具体来说，这项工作将改进PS分析与MWA，将降低信号强度的限制一个数量级，深入切入EoR模型的可能参数空间。这项研究对整个21 cm社区来说将是无价的。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

The Epoch of Reionization (EoR) is the period of time in the early Universe when it is thought that the first stars and galaxies formed. Understanding the physics of galaxy formation and feedback during the EoR is one of the key goals of modern cosmology and astrophysics. Observations of neutral hydrogen in the early Universe have the potential to revolutionize our understanding of these first stars and galaxies. This work will improve data analysis with the Murchison Widefield Array telescope so that researchers can make significantly better detections of such faint signals, making the observations much more useful and providing a tool for researchers engaged in similar projects. In addition, this work will continue and expand the initiative to provide Research Experiences for Non-Traditional Undergraduates. Undergraduate research is an essential component in preparing students both for graduate school and for positions in the broader STEM workforce. Providing this kind of research experience to non-traditional undergraduate students will enable more of them to go on to graduate school, increasing the diversity of the broader STEM community.This award supports the continued work of a successful EoR analysis team. Over the past four years innovations by the US imaging power spectrum (PS) team have driven the field forward and have led to the deepest EoR PS limits in the world. The investigators will make the next steps needed to reduce the limits by another order of magnitude with Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) data. Specifically, this work will make improvements in PS analyses with the MWA that will lower limits on the signal strength by an order of magnitude, making deep cuts into the possible parameter space for EoR models. This research will be invaluable for the entire 21 cm community.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.