Collaborative Research: Commensal All-sky Imaging of Low-Frequency Transients with EPIC

射电望远镜使天文学家能够看到宇宙中的高能事件。 新的和计划中的射电望远镜使用数千个天线。 天线信号必须在超级计算机中进行数字组合，以形成天空图像。 减少这些计算将降低未来望远镜的成本。 研究人员已经开发出一种更快的算法，并将在新墨西哥州的长波阵列上实施。 利用这些图像，研究人员将寻找快速无线电爆发，这是一种最近发现的现象。 这可能有助于识别制造这些神秘爆炸的物体类型。 该团队还将研究其他天文物体。 他们将扩展非传统本科生（RENTU）计划的研究经验。 经济或家庭义务可能会阻止学生参与研究。 该计划使研究更容易为第一代和代表性不足的学生团体以及退伍军人。 该项目致力于实现"宇宙之窗“大构想的目标：利用现代低频无线电干涉仪观测宇宙黎明和随时间变化的天空。 由于需要宽视场、高灵敏度和出色的成像性能，这些望远镜包括数百或数千个单独的天线。 处理如此多的信号在计算上是昂贵的，特别是对于需要全天空成像和高时间分辨率的科学目标。 该项目旨在推进一个实时的，全天空的无线电干涉仪成像架构，减少标准的计算缩放。目前在新墨西哥州塞维利亚塔长波长阵列站上实施的现有系统的能力将通过提高效率和操作带宽、能够对外部事件和触发作出反应、开发瞬态探测模块、协调与其他设施的卫星观测以及监测感兴趣的源而得到扩展。 该成像仪将用于低频快速瞬变研究，包括目标，如卫星，引力波事件的快速无线电对应物，行星际闪烁和快速无线电爆发的搜索。 研究人员还将扩大亚利桑那州立大学的非传统本科生研究经验（RENTU）计划，将新墨西哥州大学和威诺纳州立大学包括在内。 该计划为那些因经济或家庭责任而无法参加现有研究计划的当地学生提供服务。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。

Radio telescopes allow astronomers to see energetic events in the universe. New and planned radio telescopes use thousands of antennas. The antenna signals must be combined digitally in supercomputers to make images of the sky. Reducing these computations will reduce the cost of future telescopes. The investigators have developed an algorithm that is faster and will implement it on the Long Wavelength Array in New Mexico. Using the images, the investigators will search for fast radio bursts, a recently discovered phenomenon. This may help identify the type of objects that make these mysterious bursts. The team will also study other astronomical objects. They will extend the Research Experiences for Non-Traditional Undergraduates (RENTU) program. Financial or family obligations can prevent students from participating in research. This program makes research more accessible for first-generation and under-represented student groups as well as veterans. This project addresses the goals of the Windows on the Universe Big Idea.Modern low-frequency radio interferometers enable views of cosmic dawn and the time-variable sky. Driven by the need for wide fields, high sensitivity, and excellent imaging performance, these telescopes include hundreds or thousands of individual antennas. Processing so many signals is computationally expensive, particularly for science objectives that require all-sky imaging and high-temporal resolution. This project seeks to advance a real-time, all-sky radio interferometer imaging architecture that reduces the standard computational scaling. The capabilities of an existing system currently implemented on the Long Wavelength Array station in Sevilleta, New Mexico will be expanded by improving efficiency and operating bandwidth, enabling response to external events and triggers, developing a transient detection module, coordinating commensal observing with other facilities, and monitoring sources of interest. The imager will be used for fast-transient studies at low frequencies, including targets such as pulsars, prompt radio counterparts to gravitational wave events, interplanetary scintillation, and searches for fast radio bursts. The investigators will also extend the Research Experiences for Non-Traditional Undergraduates (RENTU) program at Arizona State University to include the University of New Mexico and Winona State University. This program serves local students for whom financial or family obligations prevent from participating in existing research programs away from their home institutions.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.