Mapping the Dynamic Radio Universe

绘制动态无线电宇宙图

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-05738
• 负责人: Vanderlinde, Keith
• 金额: $ 2.48万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=713831
• 关键词: Mapping; Dynamic; Radio; Universe

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.

受射电天文学、信号处理技术和全球主要天文台新能力的最新发展的启发，我提出了一个基于动态射电天空天气观测的研究计划。通过利用加拿大氢强度测绘实验（CHIME）等新仪器，我的团队将能够研究以前无法观察到的各种无线电现象。 最近完成的CHIME望远镜标志着加拿大复兴的射电天文学界的一个里程碑：它将很快开始追踪有史以来在一次调查中探索的最大宇宙体积。CHIME被认为是一个绘制宇宙大尺度结构（LSS）的宇宙学实验，各种增强使其成为一个前所未有的射电天文台，为科学目标提供了超过14个数量级的灵敏度，从微秒到几十年。CHIME没有使用镜子和透镜来拍摄天空，而是使用了大量的数字信号处理后端来以各种方式操纵和聚焦无线电光。通过仔细复制和操纵相关器中的信号，几个卫星勘测能够与CHIME的主要LSS勘测并行进行： 1)CHIME/脉冲星将提供对北方每一颗已知脉冲星的几乎每天的观测和监测。 2)CHIME/FRB将搜索超过一千个光束的FRB，覆盖整个~200平方度的视场。 3)CHIME VLBI已经恢复了与安大略的阿尔冈琴射电天文台（ARO）的历史性甚长基线干涉测量（VLBI）联系。 4)不久将开始对遥远的21厘米吸收系统进行高光谱分辨率的搜索，最终有可能直接探测宇宙加速。 CHIME提供了一个最好的例子，新的能力数据集现在可用，但这项研究远远超出了一个单一的天文台，利用新的天气无线电天文台现在上线地球仪。翻新后的ARO已经用类似的技术进行了升级，可以进行宽带VLBI、相干偏振测量和时域研究。即将在南非建造的1024碟氢强度和实时分析实验（HIRAX）望远镜采用CHIME技术，进一步扩大了灵敏度。我们寻求探索宇宙的这些新窗口，解决射电天文学的主要问题。 我的团队正在领导这类新的数字无线电观测站的发展，以CHIME为例。我们将继续改进无线电仪器，提高地球仪的观测能力。这些新的能力，加上在开发这些能力时积累的专门知识，将使我们能够最大限度地提高科学产量，以前所未有的方式探索动态无线电天空。