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

阿比盖尔·克里茨获得美国国家科学基金会天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，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测绘实验（TIME-Pilot），这是一种用于测量早期宇宙中电离碳特征的新仪器。这台新仪器将提高我们对恒星形成历史的理解，这段历史在宇宙快速演化的时期被研究得很少。计划中的测量将限制恒星形成的密度，并建立电离碳探测技术，作为探索形成宇宙早期历史的一种新的、可行的方法。除了这项工作，Crites还将开展一项拓展工作，首先包括访问洛杉矶地区的公立高中，广泛介绍科学知识，然后在夏季带1 - 2名学生到TIME-Pilot小组的实验室工作。层析电离碳强度成像实验（TIME-Pilot）是一种新型的低温毫米波长光谱仪，用于测量157.7微米电离碳[CII]发射线在再电离时期（EoR）和一氧化碳在恒星形成速率峰值时期的聚类波动。这将通过[CII]的强度映射来完成，以检测集群波动并测试最早的矮星系微弱发射的预测[CII]幅度。利用TIME-Pilot进行[CII]探测将限制EoR恒星形成的密度，并使[CII]发射成为了解EoR的可行新工具。评估将集中于完成TIME-Pilot仪器的开发，并对来自前景的系统影响进行分析，为了提取[CII]信号，这些影响将需要被适应。参加拓展计划的高中生将接受课堂访问，介绍科学实践，然后在夏季，少数学生将被邀请到TIME-Pilot小组的实验室工作，以获得实践经验。

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.