Improved power spectrum estimate pipeline for HERA

Radio signals of neutral hydrogen atoms from the very early universe are a crucial tracer for us to understand the formation of first stars, black holes, and galaxies. Observations of these signals are challenging due to the contaminations from bright astrophysical objects in the foreground and Radio Frequency Interference from terrestrial communications. In this project, we propose to implement an improved power spectrum estimate pipeline, a statistical quantity used to capture the abundance and distribution of neutral hydrogen atoms. This improved pipeline will filter out foreground contaminations while optimally handling the missing data due to Radio Frequency Interference. We will apply this improved pipeline to the data obtained by the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array which Canada is a key partner of, opening up a wider window to a section of the universe that has never been observed before. The expertise developed in this project will further strengthen Canada’s leading position in radio astronomy.

Faculty Supervisor:

Adrian Liu

Student:

Partner:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Education

University:

McGill University

Program: