Explore Remote Virtual Technologies Using Real-time Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI)

This program will cement Canada’s leadership in global Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), a key technology in radio astronomy and geodesy. In partnership with Thoth Technology Inc., our team of leading radio astronomers will (i) develop new capabilities to compress, transport, and process large amounts of data between geographically distinct locations to enable real-time VLBI, and (ii) use this capability to make precise astrometric measurements of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) and pulsars, and through their scintillation properties, study their local environments.

The program will have several far-reaching benefits. Scientifically, advances to VLBI will improve the precision of pulsar localization by orders of magnitude and allow for a systematic spatial localization of FRBs. The project will also position Canada’s Algonquin Radio Observatory as the nexus of a new, low-frequency, global VLBI network and Thoth Technology as one of the world’s premier VLBI providers to large-scale, international telescopes. More far-reaching still, next generation VLBI will underpin the high-precision geodetic reference frame upon which autonomous vehicles will rely. As such, advances to VLBI could profoundly impact nearly every aspect of our economy, from engineering and construction to transportation and precision agriculture.

Faculty Supervisor:

Ue-Li Pen

Student:

Hsiu-Hsien Lin;James McKee;José Miguel Jáuregui García;Nina Gusinsk;Jing Luo;Dylan Jow;Fangxi Lin;Thierry Serafin Nadeau

Partner:

Thoth Technology Inc

Discipline:

Physics / Astronomy

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Toronto