ORCID Profile
0000-0001-7694-4030
Current Organisation
University of Washington
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Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 11-02-2016
DOI: 10.1093/MNRAS/STW310
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 08-2021
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 29-11-2022
Abstract: We present a Bayesian jackknife test for assessing the probability that a data set contains biased subsets, and, if so, which of the subsets are likely to be biased. The test can be used to assess the presence and likely source of statistical tension between different measurements of the same quantities in an automated manner. Under certain broadly applicable assumptions, the test is analytically tractable. We also provide an open-source code, chiborg, that performs both analytic and numerical computations of the test on general Gaussian-distributed data. After exploring the information theoretical aspects of the test and its performance with an array of simulations, we apply it to data from the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) to assess whether different sub-seasons of observing can justifiably be combined to produce a deeper 21 cm power spectrum upper limit. We find that, with a handful of exceptions, the HERA data in question are statistically consistent and this decision is justified. We conclude by pointing out the wide applicability of this test, including to CMB experiments and the H0 tension.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2015.29
Abstract: We compare first-order (refractive) ionospheric effects seen by the MWA with the ionosphere as inferred from GPS data. The first-order ionosphere manifests itself as a bulk position shift of the observed sources across an MWA field of view. These effects can be computed from global ionosphere maps provided by GPS analysis centres, namely the CODE. However, for precision radio astronomy applications, data from local GPS networks needs to be incorporated into ionospheric modelling. For GPS observations, the ionospheric parameters are biased by GPS receiver instrument delays, among other effects, also known as receiver DCBs. The receiver DCBs need to be estimated for any non-CODE GPS station used for ionosphere modelling. In this work, single GPS station-based ionospheric modelling is performed at a time resolution of 10 min. Also the receiver DCBs are estimated for selected Geoscience Australia GPS receivers, located at Murchison Radio Observatory, Yarragadee, Mount Magnet and Wiluna. The ionospheric gradients estimated from GPS are compared with that inferred from MWA. The ionospheric gradients at all the GPS stations show a correlation with the gradients observed with the MWA. The ionosphere estimates obtained using GPS measurements show promise in terms of providing calibration information for the MWA.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 07-08-2015
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2015.26
Abstract: GLEAM, the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky MWA survey, is a survey of the entire radio sky south of declination + 25° at frequencies between 72 and 231 MHz, made with the MWA using a drift scan method that makes efficient use of the MWA’s very large field-of-view. We present the observation details, imaging strategies, and theoretical sensitivity for GLEAM. The survey ran for two years, the first year using 40-kHz frequency resolution and 0.5-s time resolution the second year using 10-kHz frequency resolution and 2 s time resolution. The resulting image resolution and sensitivity depends on observing frequency, sky pointing, and image weighting scheme. At 154 MHz, the image resolution is approximately 2.5 × 2.2/cos (δ + 26.7°) arcmin with sensitivity to structures up to ~ 10° in angular size. We provide tables to calculate the expected thermal noise for GLEAM mosaics depending on pointing and frequency and discuss limitations to achieving theoretical noise in Stokes I images. We discuss challenges, and their solutions, that arise for GLEAM including ionospheric effects on source positions and linearly polarised emission, and the instrumental polarisation effects inherent to the MWA’s primary beam.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 07-04-2020
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2022
DOI: 10.1039/D0CS00352B
Abstract: In this Review, we feature the recent developments in the chemistry of fluorescent cyclophanes, along with their design and synthesis. Their host–guest chemistry and applications related to their structure and properties are also highlighted.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 05-03-2007
DOI: 10.1086/511068
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 10-2022
Abstract: Motivated by the desire for wide-field images with well-defined statistical properties for 21 cm cosmology, we implement an optimal mapping pipeline that computes a maximum likelihood estimator for the sky using the interferometric measurement equation. We demonstrate this “direct optimal mapping” with data from the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization (HERA) Phase I observations. After validating the pipeline with simulated data, we develop a maximum likelihood figure-of-merit for comparing four sky models at 166 MHz with a bandwidth of 100 kHz. The HERA data agree with the GLEAM catalogs to 10%. After subtracting the GLEAM point sources, the HERA data discriminate between the different continuum sky models, providing most support for the model of Byrne et al. We report the computation cost for mapping the HERA Phase I data and project the computation for the HERA 320-antenna data both are feasible with a modern server. The algorithm is broadly applicable to other interferometers and is valid for wide-field and noncoplanar arrays.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 17-04-2019
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 14-04-2018
DOI: 10.1093/MNRAS/STY930
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 19-12-2016
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 26-06-2020
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 19-02-2020
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 03-08-2021
Abstract: The locations of Ly α-emitting galaxies (LAEs) at the end of the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) are expected to correlate with regions of ionized hydrogen, traced by the redshifted 21 cm hyperfine line. Mapping the neutral hydrogen around regions with detected and localized LAEs offers an avenue to constrain the brightness temperature of the Universe within the EoR by providing an expectation for the spatial distribution of the gas, thereby providing prior information unavailable to power spectrum measurements. We use a test set of 12 h of observations from the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in extended array configuration, to constrain the neutral hydrogen signature of 58 LAEs, detected with the Subaru Hypersuprime Cam in the Silverrush survey, centred on z = 6.58. We assume that detectable emitters reside in the centre of ionized H ii bubbles during the end of reionization, and predict the redshifted neutral hydrogen signal corresponding to the remaining neutral regions using a set of different ionized bubble radii. A pre-whitening matched filter detector is introduced to assess detectability. We demonstrate the ability to detect, or place limits upon, the litude of brightness temperature fluctuations, and the characteristic H ii bubble size. With our limited data, we constrain the brightness temperature of neutral hydrogen to ΔTB & mK (& mK) at 95 per cent (99 per cent) confidence for lognormally distributed bubbles of radii, RB = 15 ± 2h−1 cMpc.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 27-06-2017
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 17-05-2010
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 04-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2021
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 10-2020
Abstract: In 21-cm cosmology, precision calibration is key to the separation of the neutral hydrogen signal from very bright but spectrally smooth astrophysical foregrounds. The Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA), an interferometer specialized for 21-cm cosmology and now under construction in South Africa, was designed to be largely calibrated using the self-consistency of repeated measurements of the same interferometric modes. This technique, known as redundant-baseline calibration resolves most of the internal degrees of freedom in the calibration problem. It assumes, however, on antenna elements with identical primary beams placed precisely on a redundant grid. In this work, we review the detailed implementation of the algorithms enabling redundant-baseline calibration and report results with HERA data. We quantify the effects of real-world non-redundancy and how they compare to the idealized scenario in which redundant measurements differ only in their noise realizations. Finally, we study how non-redundancy can produce spurious temporal structure in our calibration solutions – both in data and in simulations – and present strategies for mitigating that structure.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 10-02-2023
Abstract: To mitigate the effects of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) on the data analysis pipelines of 21 cm interferometric instruments, numerous inpaint techniques have been developed. In this paper, we examine the qualitative and quantitative errors introduced into the visibilities and power spectrum due to inpainting. We perform our analysis on simulated data as well as real data from the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) Phase 1 upper limits. We also introduce a convolutional neural network that is capable of inpainting RFI corrupted data. We train our network on simulated data and show that our network is capable of inpainting real data without requiring to be retrained. We find that techniques that incorporate high wavenumbers in delay space in their modelling are best suited for inpainting over narrowband RFI. We show that with our fiducial parameters discrete prolate spheroidal sequences (dpss) and clean provide the best performance for intermittent RFI while Gaussian progress regression (gpr) and least squares spectral analysis (lssa) provide the best performance for larger RFI gaps. However, we caution that these qualitative conclusions are sensitive to the chosen hyperparameters of each inpainting technique. We show that all inpainting techniques reliably reproduce foreground dominated modes in the power spectrum. Since the inpainting techniques should not be capable of reproducing noise realizations, we find that the largest errors occur in the noise dominated delay modes. We show that as the noise level of the data comes down, clean and dpss are most capable of reproducing the fine frequency structure in the visibilities.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 10-09-2019
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 29-10-2018
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 30-06-2015
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 23-08-2018
Publisher: arXiv
Date: 2021
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 18-02-2016
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 11-07-2016
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 10-12-2015
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Date: 02-03-2017
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2017.27
Abstract: We describe the design and performance of the Engineering Development Array, which is a low-frequency radio telescope comprising 256 dual-polarisation dipole antennas working as a phased array. The Engineering Development Array was conceived of, developed, and deployed in just 18 months via re-use of Square Kilometre Array precursor technology and expertise, specifically from the Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope. Using drift scans and a model for the sky brightness temperature at low frequencies, we have derived the Engineering Development Array’s receiver temperature as a function of frequency. The Engineering Development Array is shown to be sky-noise limited over most of the frequency range measured between 60 and 240 MHz. By using the Engineering Development Array in interferometric mode with the Murchison Widefield Array, we used calibrated visibilities to measure the absolute sensitivity of the array. The measured array sensitivity matches very well with a model based on the array layout and measured receiver temperature. The results demonstrate the practicality and feasibility of using Murchison Widefield Array-style precursor technology for Square Kilometre Array-scale stations. The modular architecture of the Engineering Development Array allows upgrades to the array to be rolled out in a staged approach. Future improvements to the Engineering Development Array include replacing the second stage beamformer with a fully digital system, and to transition to using RF-over-fibre for the signal output from first stage beamformers.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 03-2016
DOI: 10.1093/MNRAS/STW451
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 12-01-2023
Abstract: Combining the visibilities measured by an interferometer to form a cosmological power spectrum is a complicated process. In a delay-based analysis, the mapping between instrumental and cosmological space is not a one-to-one relation. Instead, neighbouring modes contribute to the power measured at one point, with their respective contributions encoded in the window functions. To better understand the power measured by an interferometer, we assess the impact of instrument characteristics and analysis choices on these window functions. Focusing on the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) as a case study, we find that long-baseline observations correspond to enhanced low-k tails of the window functions, which facilitate foreground leakage, whilst an informed choice of bandwidth and frequency taper can reduce said tails. With simple test cases and realistic simulations, we show that, apart from tracing mode mixing, the window functions help accurately reconstruct the power spectrum estimator of simulated visibilities. The window functions depend strongly on the beam chromaticity and less on its spatial structure – a Gaussian approximation, ignoring side lobes, is sufficient. Finally, we investigate the potential of asymmetric window functions, down-weighting the contribution of low-k power to avoid foreground leakage. The window functions presented here correspond to the latest HERA upper limits for the full Phase I data. They allow an accurate reconstruction of the power spectrum measured by the instrument and will be used in future analyses to confront theoretical models and data directly in cylindrical space.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2018.37
Abstract: We describe the motivation and design details of the ‘Phase II’ upgrade of the Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope. The expansion doubles to 256 the number of antenna tiles deployed in the array. The new antenna tiles enhance the capabilities of the Murchison Widefield Array in several key science areas. Seventy-two of the new tiles are deployed in a regular configuration near the existing array core. These new tiles enhance the surface brightness sensitivity of the array and will improve the ability of the Murchison Widefield Array to estimate the slope of the Epoch of Reionisation power spectrum by a factor of ∼3.5. The remaining 56 tiles are deployed on long baselines, doubling the maximum baseline of the array and improving the array u, v coverage. The improved imaging capabilities will provide an order of magnitude improvement in the noise floor of Murchison Widefield Array continuum images. The upgrade retains all of the features that have underpinned the Murchison Widefield Array’s success (large field of view, snapshot image quality, and pointing agility) and boosts the scientific potential with enhanced imaging capabilities and by enabling new calibration strategies.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 19-05-2016
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 27-11-2020
Abstract: Abstract. Waves can drastically transform a sea ice cover by inducing break-up over vast distances in the course of a few hours. However, relatively few detailed studies have described this phenomenon in a quantitative manner, and the process of sea ice break-up by waves needs to be further parameterized and verified before it can be reliably included in forecasting models. In the present work, we discuss sea ice break-up parameterization and demonstrate the existence of an observational threshold separating breaking and non-breaking cases. This threshold is based on information from two recent field c aigns, supplemented with existing observations of sea ice break-up. The data used cover a wide range of scales, from laboratory-grown sea ice to polar field observations. Remarkably, we show that both field and laboratory observations tend to converge to a single quantitative threshold at which the wave-induced sea ice break-up takes place, which opens a promising avenue for robust parametrization in operational forecasting models.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 16-02-2023
Abstract: Radio interferometers aiming to measure the power spectrum of the redshifted 21 cm line during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) need to achieve an unprecedented dynamic range to separate the weak signal from overwhelming foreground emissions. Calibration inaccuracies can compromise the sensitivity of these measurements to the effect that a detection of the EoR is precluded. An alternative to standard analysis techniques makes use of the closure phase, which allows one to bypass antenna-based direction-independent calibration. Similarly to standard approaches, we use a delay spectrum technique to search for the EoR signal. Using 94 nights of data observed with Phase I of the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA), we place approximate constraints on the 21 cm power spectrum at z = 7.7. We find at 95 per cent confidence that the 21 cm EoR brightness temperature is ≤(372)2 ‘pseudo’ mK2 at 1.14 ‘pseudo’ h Mpc−1, where the ‘pseudo’ emphasizes that these limits are to be interpreted as approximations to the actual distance scales and brightness temperatures. Using a fiducial EoR model, we demonstrate the feasibility of detecting the EoR with the full array. Compared to standard methods, the closure phase processing is relatively simple, thereby providing an important independent check on results derived using visibility intensities, or related.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2020.37
Abstract: Precise instrumental calibration is of crucial importance to 21-cm cosmology experiments. The Murchison Widefield Array’s (MWA) Phase II compact configuration offers us opportunities for both redundant calibration and sky-based calibration algorithms using the two in tandem is a potential approach to mitigate calibration errors caused by inaccurate sky models. The MWA Epoch of Reionization (EoR) experiment targets three patches of the sky (dubbed EoR0, EoR1, and EoR2) with deep observations. Previous work in Li et al. (2018) and (2019) studied the effect of tandem calibration on the EoR0 field and found that it yielded no significant improvement in the power spectrum (PS) over sky-based calibration alone. In this work, we apply similar techniques to the EoR1 field and find a distinct result: the improvements in the PS from tandem calibration are significant. To understand this result, we analyse both the calibration solutions themselves and the effects on the PS over three nights of EoR1 observations. We conclude that the presence of the bright radio galaxy Fornax A in EoR1 degrades the performance of sky-based calibration, which in turn enables redundant calibration to have a larger impact. These results suggest that redundant calibration can indeed mitigate some level of model incompleteness error.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2016.19
Abstract: We have compiled a catalogue of H ii regions detected with the Murchison Widefield Array between 72 and 231 MHz. The multiple frequency bands provided by the Murchison Widefield Array allow us identify the characteristic spectrum generated by the thermal Bremsstrahlung process in H ii regions. We detect 306 H ii regions between 260° l 340° and report on the positions, sizes, peak, integrated flux density, and spectral indices of these H ii regions. By identifying the point at which H ii regions transition from the optically thin to thick regime, we derive the physical properties including the electron density, ionised gas mass, and ionising photon flux, towards 61 H ii regions. This catalogue of H ii regions represents the most extensive and uniform low frequency survey of H ii regions in the Galaxy to date.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 09-04-2018
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 09-12-2016
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 07-10-2019
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
Date: 07-2020
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 16-09-2013
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2019.41
Abstract: The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) is an open access telescope dedicated to studying the low-frequency (80–300 MHz) southern sky. Since beginning operations in mid-2013, the MWA has opened a new observational window in the southern hemisphere enabling many science areas. The driving science objectives of the original design were to observe 21 cm radiation from the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR), explore the radio time domain, perform Galactic and extragalactic surveys, and monitor solar, heliospheric, and ionospheric phenomena. All together $60+$ programs recorded 20 000 h producing 146 papers to date. In 2016, the telescope underwent a major upgrade resulting in alternating compact and extended configurations. Other upgrades, including digital back-ends and a rapid-response triggering system, have been developed since the original array was commissioned. In this paper, we review the major results from the prior operation of the MWA and then discuss the new science paths enabled by the improved capabilities. We group these science opportunities by the four original science themes but also include ideas for directions outside these categories.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 2022
DOI: 10.1029/2021RS007376
Abstract: We present a framework for identifying and flagging malfunctioning antennas in large radio interferometers. We outline two distinct categories of metrics designed to detect outliers along known failure modes of large arrays: cross‐correlation metrics, based on all antenna pairs, and auto‐correlation metrics, based solely on in idual antennas. We define and motivate the statistical framework for all metrics used, and present tailored visualizations that aid us in clearly identifying new and existing systematics. We implement these techniques using data from 105 antennas in the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) as a case study. Finally, we provide a detailed algorithm for implementing these metrics as flagging tools on real data sets.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 12-02-2020
Abstract: We compute the spherically averaged power spectrum from four seasons of data obtained for the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) project observed with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). We measure the EoR power spectrum over k = 0.07–3.0 h Mpc−1 at redshifts $z$ = 6.5–8.7. The largest aggregation of 110 h on EoR0 high band (3340 observations), yields a lowest measurement of (43 mK)2 = 1.8 × 103 mK2 at k = 0.14 h Mpc−1 and $z$ = 6.5 (2σ thermal noise plus s le variance). Using the Real-Time System to calibrate and the CHIPS pipeline to estimate power spectra, we select the best observations from the central five pointings within the 2013–2016 observing seasons, observing three independent fields and in two frequency bands. This yields 13 591 2-min snapshots (453 h), based on a quality assurance metric that measures ionospheric activity. We perform another cut to remove poorly calibrated data, based on power in the foreground-dominated and EoR-dominated regions of the two-dimensional power spectrum, reducing the set to 12 569 observations (419 h). These data are processed in groups of 20 observations, to retain the capacity to identify poor data, and used to analyse the evolution and structure of the data over field, frequency, and data quality. We subsequently choose the cleanest 8935 observations (298 h of data) to form integrated power spectra over the different fields, pointings, and redshift ranges.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 22-08-2018
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 19-12-2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-01-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-018-19195-3
Abstract: Type III solar radio bursts are the Sun’s most intense and frequent nonthermal radio emissions. They involve two critical problems in astrophysics, plasma physics, and space physics: how collective processes produce nonthermal radiation and how magnetic reconnection occurs and changes magnetic energy into kinetic energy. Here magnetic reconnection events are identified definitively in Solar Dynamics Observatory UV-EUV data, with strong upward and downward pairs of jets, current sheets, and cusp-like geometries on top of time-varying magnetic loops, and strong outflows along pairs of open magnetic field lines. Type III bursts imaged by the Murchison Widefield Array and detected by the Learmonth radiospectrograph and STEREO B spacecraft are demonstrated to be in very good temporal and spatial coincidence with specific reconnection events and with bursts of X-rays detected by the RHESSI spacecraft. The reconnection sites are low, near heights of 5–10 Mm. These images and event timings provide the long-desired direct evidence that semi-relativistic electrons energized in magnetic reconnection regions produce type III radio bursts. Not all the observed reconnection events produce X-ray events or coronal or interplanetary type III bursts thus different special conditions exist for electrons leaving reconnection regions to produce observable radio, EUV, UV, and X-ray bursts.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2020.4
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 10-2022
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202244024
Abstract: Context. The Multi-frequency Angular Power Spectrum (MAPS) is an alternative to spherically averaged power spectra, and computes local fluctuations in the angular power spectrum without need for line-of-sight spectral transform. Aims. We aimed to test different approaches to MAPS and treatment of the foreground contamination, and compare with the spherically averaged power spectrum, and the single-frequency angular power spectrum. Methods. We applied the MAPS to 110 h of data in z = 6.2 − 7.5 obtained for the Murchison Widefield Array Epoch of Reionisation experiment to compute the statistical power of 21 cm brightness temperature fluctuations. In the presence of bright foregrounds, a filter was applied to remove large-scale modes prior to MAPS application, significantly reducing MAPS power due to systematics. Results. The MAPS showed a contrast of 10 2 –10 3 to a simulated 21 cm cosmological signal for spectral separations of 0−4 MHz after application of the filter, reflecting results for the spherically averaged power spectrum. The single-frequency angular power spectrum was also computed. At z = 7.5 and l = 200, we found an angular power of 53 mK 2 , exceeding a simulated cosmological signal power by a factor of one thousand. Residual spectral structure, inherent to the calibrated data, and not spectral leakage from large-scale modes, was the dominant source of systematic power bias. The single-frequency angular power spectrum yielded slightly poorer results compared with the spherically averaged power spectrum, having applied a spectral filter to reduce foregrounds. Exploration of other filters may improve this result, along with consideration of wider bandwidths.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 02-09-2015
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2019.15
Abstract: We apply two methods to estimate the 21-cm bispectrum from data taken within the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR) project of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). Using data acquired with the Phase II compact array allows a direct bispectrum estimate to be undertaken on the multiple redundantly spaced triangles of antenna tiles, as well as an estimate based on data gridded to the uv -plane. The direct and gridded bispectrum estimators are applied to 21 h of high-band (167–197 MHz z = 6.2–7.5) data from the 2016 and 2017 observing seasons. Analytic predictions for the bispectrum bias and variance for point-source foregrounds are derived. We compare the output of these approaches, the foreground contribution to the signal, and future prospects for measuring the bispectra with redundant and non-redundant arrays. We find that some triangle configurations yield bispectrum estimates that are consistent with the expected noise level after 10 h, while equilateral configurations are strongly foreground-dominated. Careful choice of triangle configurations may be made to reduce foreground bias that hinders power spectrum estimators, and the 21-cm bispectrum may be accessible in less time than the 21-cm power spectrum for some wave modes, with detections in hundreds of hours.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 17-06-2017
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 25-10-2018
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 09-01-2020
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 08-07-2016
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 10-10-2016
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 07-02-2017
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 17-12-2019
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 03-2023
Abstract: We report the most sensitive upper limits to date on the 21 cm epoch of reionization power spectrum using 94 nights of observing with Phase I of the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA). Using similar analysis techniques as in previously reported limits, we find at 95% confidence that Δ 2 ( k = 0.34 h Mpc −1 ) ≤ 457 mK 2 at z = 7.9 and that Δ 2 ( k = 0.36 h Mpc −1 ) ≤ 3496 mK 2 at z = 10.4, an improvement by a factor of 2.1 and 2.6, respectively. These limits are mostly consistent with thermal noise over a wide range of k after our data quality cuts, despite performing a relatively conservative analysis designed to minimize signal loss. Our results are validated with both statistical tests on the data and end-to-end pipeline simulations. We also report updated constraints on the astrophysics of reionization and the cosmic dawn. Using multiple independent modeling and inference techniques previously employed by HERA Collaboration, we find that the intergalactic medium must have been heated above the adiabatic cooling limit at least as early as z = 10.4, ruling out a broad set of so-called “cold reionization” scenarios. If this heating is due to high-mass X-ray binaries during the cosmic dawn, as is generally believed, our result’s 99% credible interval excludes the local relationship between soft X-ray luminosity and star formation and thus requires heating driven by evolved low-metallicity stars.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 02-09-2019
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2014.40
Abstract: We present the results of an approximately 6 100 deg 2 104–196 MHz radio sky survey performed with the Murchison Widefield Array during instrument commissioning between 2012 September and 2012 December: the MWACS. The data were taken as meridian drift scans with two different 32-antenna sub-arrays that were available during the commissioning period. The survey covers approximately 20.5 h RA 8.5 h, − 58° Dec −14°over three frequency bands centred on 119, 150 and 180 MHz, with image resolutions of 6–3 arcmin. The catalogue has 3 arcmin angular resolution and a typical noise level of 40 mJy beam − 1 , with reduced sensitivity near the field boundaries and bright sources. We describe the data reduction strategy, based upon mosaicked snapshots, flux density calibration, and source-finding method. We present a catalogue of flux density and spectral index measurements for 14 110 sources, extracted from the mosaic, 1 247 of which are sub-components of complexes of sources.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 04-07-2023
Abstract: We describe the validation of the HERA Phase I software pipeline by a series of modular tests, building up to an end-to-end simulation. The philosophy of this approach is to validate the software and algorithms used in the Phase I upper-limit analysis on wholly synthetic data satisfying the assumptions of that analysis, not addressing whether the actual data meet these assumptions. We discuss the organization of this validation approach, the specific modular tests performed, and the construction of the end-to-end simulations. We explicitly discuss the limitations in scope of the current simulation effort. With mock visibility data generated from a known analytic power spectrum and a wide range of realistic instrumental effects and foregrounds, we demonstrate that the current pipeline produces power spectrum estimates that are consistent with known analytic inputs to within thermal noise levels (at the 2 σ level) for k 0.2 h Mpc −1 for both bands and fields considered. Our input spectrum is intentionally lified to enable a strong “detection” at k ∼ 0.2 h Mpc −1 —at the level of ∼25 σ —with foregrounds dominating on larger scales and thermal noise dominating at smaller scales. Our pipeline is able to detect this lified input signal after suppressing foregrounds with a dynamic range (foreground to noise ratio) of ≳10 7 . Our validation test suite uncovered several sources of scale-independent signal loss throughout the pipeline, whose litude is well-characterized and accounted for in the final estimates. We conclude with a discussion of the steps required for the next round of data analysis.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 10-07-2015
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 22-10-2020
Abstract: The detection of the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) delay power spectrum using a ‘foreground avoidance method’ highly depends on the instrument chromaticity. The systematic effects induced by the radio telescope spread the foreground signal in the delay domain, which contaminates the EoR window theoretically observable. Applied to the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA), this paper combines detailed electromagnetic and electrical simulations in order to model the chromatic effects of the instrument, and quantify its frequency and time responses. In particular, the effects of the analogue receiver, transmission cables, and mutual coupling are included. These simulations are able to accurately predict the intensity of the reflections occurring in the 150-m cable which links the antenna to the backend. They also show that electromagnetic waves can propagate from one dish to another one through large sections of the array due to mutual coupling. The simulated system time response is attenuated by a factor 104 after a characteristic delay which depends on the size of the array and on the antenna position. Ultimately, the system response is attenuated by a factor 105 after 1400 ns because of the reflections in the cable, which corresponds to characterizable k∥-modes above 0.7 $h\\,\\,\\rm {Mpc}^{-1}$ at 150 MHz. Thus, this new study shows that the detection of the EoR signal with HERA Phase I will be more challenging than expected. On the other hand, it improves our understanding of the telescope, which is essential to mitigate the instrument chromaticity.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-02-2015
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 27-03-2017
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 18-10-2018
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 02-2022
Abstract: We report upper limits on the Epoch of Reionization 21 cm power spectrum at redshifts 7.9 and 10.4 with 18 nights of data (∼36 hr of integration) from Phase I of the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA). The Phase I data show evidence for systematics that can be largely suppressed with systematic models down to a dynamic range of ∼10 9 with respect to the peak foreground power. This yields a 95% confidence upper limit on the 21 cm power spectrum of Δ 21 2 ≤ ( 30.76 ) 2 mK 2 at k = 0.192 h Mpc −1 at z = 7.9, and also Δ 21 2 ≤ ( 95.74 ) 2 mK 2 at k = 0.256 h Mpc −1 at z = 10.4. At z = 7.9, these limits are the most sensitive to date by over an order of magnitude. While we find evidence for residual systematics at low line-of-sight Fourier k ∥ modes, at high k ∥ modes we find our data to be largely consistent with thermal noise, an indicator that the system could benefit from deeper integrations. The observed systematics could be due to radio frequency interference, cable subreflections, or residual instrumental cross-coupling, and warrant further study. This analysis emphasizes algorithms that have minimal inherent signal loss, although we do perform a careful accounting in a companion paper of the small forms of loss or bias associated with the pipeline. Overall, these results are a promising first step in the development of a tuned, instrument-specific analysis pipeline for HERA, particularly as Phase II construction is completed en route to reaching the full sensitivity of the experiment.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-03-2018
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2015.6
Abstract: The science cases for incorporating high time resolution capabilities into modern radio telescopes are as numerous as they are compelling. Science targets range from exotic sources such as pulsars, to our Sun, to recently detected possible extragalactic bursts of radio emission, the so-called fast radio bursts (FRBs). Originally conceived purely as an imaging telescope, the initial design of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) did not include the ability to access high time and frequency resolution voltage data. However, the flexibility of the MWA’s software correlator allowed an off-the-shelf solution for adding this capability. This paper describes the system that records the 100 μs and 10 kHz resolution voltage data from the MWA. Ex le science applications, where this capability is critical, are presented, as well as accompanying commissioning results from this mode to demonstrate verification.
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
Date: 15-01-2014
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2015.5
Abstract: The Murchison Widefield Array is a Square Kilometre Array Precursor. The telescope is located at the Murchison Radio–astronomy Observatory in Western Australia. The MWA consists of 4 096 dipoles arranged into 128 dual polarisation aperture arrays forming a connected element interferometer that cross-correlates signals from all 256 inputs. A hybrid approach to the correlation task is employed, with some processing stages being performed by bespoke hardware, based on Field Programmable Gate Arrays, and others by Graphics Processing Units housed in general purpose rack mounted servers. The correlation capability required is approximately 8 tera floating point operations per second. The MWA has commenced operations and the correlator is generating 8.3 TB day −1 of correlation products, that are subsequently transferred 700 km from the MRO to Perth (WA) in real-time for storage and offline processing. In this paper, we outline the correlator design, signal path, and processing elements and present the data format for the internal and external interfaces.
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 09-2016
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 12-04-2016
DOI: 10.1093/MNRAS/STW823
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 2022
Abstract: Recently, the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) has produced the experiment’s first upper limits on the power spectrum of 21 cm fluctuations at z ∼ 8 and 10. Here, we use several independent theoretical models to infer constraints on the intergalactic medium (IGM) and galaxies during the epoch of reionization from these limits. We find that the IGM must have been heated above the adiabatic-cooling threshold by z ∼ 8, independent of uncertainties about IGM ionization and the radio background. Combining HERA limits with complementary observations constrains the spin temperature of the z ∼ 8 neutral IGM to 27 K 〈 T ¯ S 〉 630 K (2.3 K 〈 T ¯ S 〉 640 K) at 68% (95%) confidence. They therefore also place a lower bound on X-ray heating, a previously unconstrained aspects of early galaxies. For ex le, if the cosmic microwave background dominates the z ∼ 8 radio background, the new HERA limits imply that the first galaxies produced X-rays more efficiently than local ones. The z ∼ 10 limits require even earlier heating if dark-matter interactions cool the hydrogen gas. If an extra radio background is produced by galaxies, we rule out (at 95% confidence) the combination of high radio and low X-ray luminosities of L r , ν /SFR 4 × 10 24 W Hz −1 M ⊙ − 1 yr and L X /SFR 7.6 × 10 39 erg s −1 M ⊙ − 1 yr. The new HERA upper limits neither support nor disfavor a cosmological interpretation of the recent Experiment to Detect the Global EOR Signature (EDGES) measurement. The framework described here provides a foundation for the interpretation of future HERA results.
Location: United States of America
No related grants have been discovered for Miguel Morales.