Mapping the Dynamic Radio Universe

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Motivated by recent developments in radio astronomy, signal processing technologies, and novel capabilities at major observatories worldwide, I propose a program of study to based around synoptic observations of the dynamic radio sky. By leveraging new instruments such as the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), my group will be able to study a wide variety of radio phenomena previously inaccessible to observers.******The recent completion of the CHIME telescope marks a milestone for Canada's resurgent radio astronomical community: it will soon begin tracing out the largest volume of the cosmos ever explored in a single survey. Conceived as a cosmological experiment to map the Large Scale Structure (LSS) of the Universe, a variety of enhancements have made CHIME an unprecedented radio observatory, providing sensitivity on science targets with timescales ranging over 14 orders of magnitude, from microseconds to decades. Rather than using mirrors and lenses to image the sky, CHIME uses a massive digital signal processing backend to manipulate and focus the radio light in a variety of ways. Through careful replication and manipulation of the signals in the correlator, several commensal surveys are able to proceed in parallel with CHIME's primary LSS survey:***1) CHIME/pulsar will provide near-daily observation and monitoring of every known pulsar in the northern hemisphere.***2) CHIME/FRB will search for FRBs over a thousand beams, tiling the entire ~200-sq-deg field of view.***3) CHIME VLBI has restored the historic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) link to the Algonquin Radio Observatory (ARO) in Ontario.***4) A high-spectral-resolution search for distant 21cm absorbing systems will begin shortly, with an ultimate potential to directly detect cosmic acceleration.******CHIME provides a prime example of the novel capabilities data sets now available, but this research extends well beyond a single observatory, leveraging new synoptic radio observatories now coming online around the globe. The refurbished ARO has been upgraded with similar technologies, allowing broadband VLBI, coherent polarimetry and time domain studies. The forthcoming 1024-dish Hydrogen Intensity and Realtime Analysis eXperiment (HIRAX) telescope in South Africa builds from CHIME technologies, expanding the sensitivity even further. We seek to explore these new windows on the Universe, addressing major questions across radio astronomy.******My group is leading developments within this new class of digital radio observatories exemplified by CHIME. We will continue to advance radio instrumentation, enhancing observational capabilities on facilities around the globe. Those new capabilities, coupled with the expertise built in developing them, will allow us to maximize scientific yield, exploring the dynamic radio sky in a way never before possible.