The DSA: A Fast Radio Burst Localization Machine

十多年来，射电天文学家一直在探测来自我们银河系之外的毫秒级射电爆发。每天有数千个这样的快速射电暴（FRB）到达地球，但它们的性质仍然是一个谜。最大的障碍是迄今为止发现FRB的射电望远镜的空间分辨率低，这不足以准确地确定它们起源的遥远宿主星系。深层天气阵列（DSA）是一种新的射电望远镜，旨在通过每年检测100个FRB来解决FRB问题，并将每个爆发定位到其宿主星系。除了解开FRB起源之谜之外，这些事件还可以用来提供对星系际介质（占据星系之间空间的电离气体）的强大探测。在探测到每个FRB后，将立即与整个天文学界分享警报。学生，从K-12到本科和研究生水平，将参与设计，建造和操作DSA，以及参与科学的交付，为美国下一代射电天文学家播种。DSA将是一个专门用于FRB检测和直接定位的射电干涉仪。它将位于欧文斯谷无线电天文台（OVRO），充分利用现有的基础设施，以最大限度地减少成本和部署时间。该阵列将由110 x 5米的碟形天线组成，覆盖直径为2.25公里的区域，并将在1280 - 1530 MHz之间的频率上持续调查FRB。 使用配备定制设计的接收器和新型数字后端的低成本天线，将在3年的科学计划中提供300个定位于3角秒区域的FRB样本。FRB警报将通过VOEvent服务向整个天文学界发布，以确保对DSA定位的FRB进行快速跟踪。该项目将使我们对FRB的起源以及环星系介质和星系间介质中看不见的重子的理解取得变革性进展。DSA技术的低成本实施还将为美国社区提供一个框架，以开发一种未来的设施，用于以无与伦比的调查速度绘制无线电天空。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

For more than a decade, radio astronomers have been detecting millisecond bursts of radio emission originating from great distances far beyond our own galaxy. Thousands of these Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) arrive at Earth each day, but their nature remains a mystery. The biggest obstacle has been the low spatial resolution of the radio telescopes that have discovered FRBs to date, which has been insufficient to accurately pinpoint the distant host galaxies from which they originate. The Deep Synoptic Array (DSA) is a new radio telescope, designed to tackle the FRB problem head on by detecting 100 FRBs each year, and localizing each burst to its host galaxy. As well as solving the mystery of the origin of FRBs, these events can be used to provide a powerful probe of the intergalactic medium, the ionized gas occupying the space between galaxies. Immediately after detection of each FRB, an alert will be shared with the entire astronomical community. Students, ranging from K-12 through undergraduate and graduate level, will be involved in designing, building and operating the DSA, as well as participating in delivery of science, seeding the next generation of radio astronomers in the US.The DSA will be a radio interferometer purpose-built for FRB detection and direct localization. It will be located at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO), heavily leveraging existing infrastructure to minimize both cost and deployment timescale. The array will consist of 110 x 5m dishes spanning an area of diameter 2.25 km, and will continuously survey for FRBs at frequencies between 1280 - 1530 MHz. The use of low-cost antennas outfitted with custom-designed receivers and a novel digital back-end will deliver a sample of 300 FRBs localized to 3-arcsecond regions within a 3-year science program. FRB alerts will be issued via the VOEvent service to the entire astronomical community to ensure rapid follow-up of DSA-localized FRBs. The project will enable transformational advances in our understanding of the origins of FRBs, and of the unseen baryons in the circumgalactic medium and intergalactic medium. The low-cost implementation of the DSA technology will also offer a framework for the US community to develop a future facility for mapping the radio sky with unmatched survey speed.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.