The impact of point source subtraction residuals on 21 cm Epoch of Reionization estimation

Precise subtraction of foreground sources is crucial for detecting and estimating 21cm HI signals from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). We quantify how imperfect point source subtraction due to limitations of the measurement dataset yields structured residual signal in the dataset. We use the Cramer-Rao lower bound, as a metric for quantifying the precision with which a parameter may be measured, to estimate the residual signal in a visibility dataset due to imperfect point source subtraction. We then propagate these residuals into two metrics of interest for 21cm EoR experiments - the angular and two-dimensional power spectrum - using a combination of full analytic covariant derivation, analytic variant derivation, and covariant Monte Carlo simulations. This methodology differs from previous work in two ways: (1) it uses information theory to set the point source position error, rather than assuming a global root-mean-square error, and (2) it describes a method for propagating the errors analytically, thereby obtaining the full correlation structure of the power spectra. The methods are applied to two upcoming low-frequency instruments: the Murchison Widefield Array and the Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization. In addition to the actual antenna configurations, we apply the methods to minimally-redundant and maximally-redundant configurations. We find that for peeling sources above 1 Jy, the amplitude of the residual signal, and its variance, will be smaller than the contribution from thermal noise for the observing parameters proposed for upcoming EoR experiments, and that optimal subtraction of bright point sources will not be a limiting factor for EoR parameter estimation. We then use the formalism to provide an ab initio analytic derivation motivating the 'wedge' feature in the two-dimensional power spectrum, complementing previous discussion in the literature.Comment: 39 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

The effect of interplanetary scintillation on epoch of reionization power spectra

© 2015. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) induces intensity fluctuations in small angular size astronomical radio sources via the distortive effects of spatially and temporally varying electron density associated with outflows from the Sun. These radio sources are a potential foreground contaminant signal for redshifted HI emission from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) because they yield time-dependent flux density variations in bright extragalactic point sources. Contamination from foreground continuum sources complicates efforts to discriminate the cosmological signal from other sources in the sky. In IPS, at large angles from the Sun applicable to EoR observations, weak scattering induces spatially and temporally correlated fluctuations in the measured flux density of sources in the field, potentially affecting the detectability of the EoR signal by inducing non-static variations in the signal strength. In this work, we explore the impact of interplanetary weak scintillation on EoR power spectrum measurements, accounting for the instrumental spatial and temporal sampling. We use published power spectra of electron density fluctuations and parameters of EoR experiments to derive the IPS power spectrum in the wavenumber phase space of EoR power spectrum measurements. The contrast of IPS power to expected cosmological power is used as a metric to assess the impact of IPS. We show that IPS has a spectral structure different from power from foregrounds alone, but the additional leakage into the EoR observation parameter space is negligible under typical IPS conditions, unless data are used from deep within the foreground contamination region

Comparing Redundant and Sky-model-based Interferometric Calibration: A First Look with Phase II of the MWA

© 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.. Interferometric arrays seeking to measure the 21 cm signal from the epoch of reionization (EOR) must contend with overwhelmingly bright emission from foreground sources. Accurate recovery of the 21 cm signal will require precise calibration of the array, and several new avenues for calibration have been pursued in recent years, including methods using redundancy in the antenna configuration. The newly upgraded Phase II of Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) is the first interferometer that has large numbers of redundant baselines while retaining good instantaneous UV coverage. This array therefore provides a unique opportunity to compare redundant calibration with sky-model-based algorithms. In this paper, we present the first results from comparing both calibration approaches with MWA Phase II observations. For redundant calibration, we use the package OMNICAL and produce sky-based calibration solutions with the analysis package Fast Holographic Deconvolution (FHD). There are three principal results: (1) We report the success of OMNICAL on observations of ORBComm satellites, showing substantial agreement between redundant visibility measurements after calibration. (2) We directly compare OMNICAL calibration solutions with those from FHD and demonstrate that these two different calibration schemes give extremely similar results. (3) We explore improved calibration by combining OMNICAL and FHD. We evaluate these combined methods using power spectrum techniques developed for EOR analysis and find evidence for marginal improvements mitigating artifacts in the power spectrum. These results are likely limited by the signal-to-noise ratio in the 6 hr of data used, but they suggest future directions for combining these two calibration schemes

Epoch of reionization window. I. Mathematical formalism

The 21 cm line provides a powerful probe of astrophysics and cosmology at high redshifts, but unlocking the potential of this probe requires the robust mitigation of foreground contaminants that are typically several orders of magnitude brighter than the cosmological signal. Recent simulations and observations have shown that the smooth spectral structure of foregrounds combines with instrument chromaticity to contaminate a “wedge”-shaped region in cylindrical Fourier space. While previous efforts have explored the suppression of foregrounds within this wedge, as well as the avoidance of this highly contaminated region, all such efforts have neglected a rigorous examination of the error statistics associated with the wedge. Using a quadratic estimator formalism applied to the interferometric measurement equation, we provide a framework for such a rigorous analysis (incorporating a fully covariant treatment of errors). Additionally, we find that there are strong error correlations at high spatial wave numbers that have so far been neglected in sensitivity derivations. These error correlations substantially degrade the sensitivity of arrays relying on contributions from long baselines, compared to what one would estimate assuming uncorrelated errors

Epoch of reionization window. II. Statistical methods for foreground wedge reduction

For there to be a successful measurement of the 21 cm epoch of reionization (EoR) power spectrum, it is crucial that strong foreground contaminants be robustly suppressed. These foregrounds come from a variety of sources (such as Galactic synchrotron emission and extragalactic point sources), but almost all share the property of being spectrally smooth and, when viewed through the chromatic response of an interferometer, occupy a signature “wedge” region in cylindrical k⊥k∥ Fourier space. The complement of the foreground wedge is termed the “EoR window” and is expected to be mostly foreground-free, allowing clean measurements of the power spectrum. This paper is a sequel to a previous paper that established a rigorous mathematical framework for describing the foreground wedge and the EoR window. Here, we use our framework to explore statistical methods by which the EoR window can be enlarged, thereby increasing the sensitivity of a power spectrum measurement. We adapt the Feldman-Kaiser-Peacock approximation (commonly used in galaxy surveys) for 21 cm cosmology and also compare the optimal quadratic estimator to simpler estimators that ignore covariances between different Fourier modes. The optimal quadratic estimator is found to suppress foregrounds by an extra factor of ~105 in power at the peripheries of the EoR window, boosting the detection of the cosmological signal from 12σ to 50σ at the midpoint of reionization in our fiducial models. If numerical issues can be finessed, decorrelation techniques allow the EoR window to be further enlarged, enabling measurements to be made deep within the foreground wedge. These techniques do not assume that foreground is Gaussian distributed, and we additionally prove that a final round of foreground subtraction can be performed after decorrelation in a way that is guaranteed to have no cosmological signal loss

Additional file 1: Figure S1. of Unique depot formed by an oil based vaccine facilitates active antigen uptake and provides effective tumour control

Immune responses of DPX-formulated vaccine up to 50 days. HLA-A2 transgenic mice (HHD-DR1) received a single subcutaneous immunization with 50 uL of DPX-Survivac in the right flank. Groups of mice (n = 5) were terminated 8, 22 and 50 days after immunization and IFN-γ ELISPOT performed using lymph node cells isolated from the right inguinal lymph node. Cells were stimulated with syngeneic dendritic cells loaded with no peptide (empty), irrelevant peptide (ALMEQQHYV), or SurA2.M (LMLGEFLKL). (DOCX 40 kb

Nuclear stabilization of p53 requires a functional nucleolar surveillance pathway

The nucleolar surveillance pathway monitors nucleolar integrity and responds to nucleolar stress by mediating binding of ribosomal proteins to MDM2, resulting in p53 accumulation. Inappropriate pathway activation is implicated in the pathogenesis of ribosomopathies, while drugs selectively activating the pathway are in trials for cancer. Despite this, the molecular mechanism(s) regulating this process are poorly understood. Using genome-wide loss-of-function screens, we demonstrate the ribosome biogenesis axis as the most potent class of genes whose disruption stabilizes p53. Mechanistically, we identify genes critical for regulation of this pathway, including HEATR3. By selectively disabling the nucleolar surveillance pathway, we demonstrate that it is essential for the ability of all nuclear-acting stresses, including DNA damage, to induce p53 accumulation. Our data support a paradigm whereby the nucleolar surveillance pathway is the central integrator of stresses that regulate nuclear p53 abundance, ensuring that ribosome biogenesis is hardwired to cellular proliferative capacity

Assessment of Ionospheric Activity Tolerances for Epoch of Reionization Science with the Murchison Widefield Array

© 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.. Structure imprinted in foreground extragalactic point sources by ionospheric refraction has the potential to contaminate Epoch of Reionization (EoR) power spectra of the 21 cm emission line of neutral hydrogen. The alteration of the spatial and spectral structure of foreground measurements due to total electron content gradients in the ionosphere creates a departure from the expected sky signal. We present a general framework for understanding the signatures of ionospheric behavior in the 2D neutral hydrogen power spectrum measured by a low-frequency radio interferometer. Two primary classes of ionospheric behavior are considered, corresponding to dominant modes observed in Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) EoR data, namely, anisotropic structured wave behavior and isotropic turbulence. Analytic predictions for power spectrum bias due to this contamination are computed and compared with simulations. We then apply the ionospheric metric described in Jordan et al. to study the impact of ionospheric structure on MWA data, by dividing MWA EoR data sets into classes with good and poor ionospheric conditions, using sets of matched 30-minute observations from 2014 September. The results are compared with the analytic and simulated predictions, demonstrating the observed bias in the power spectrum when the ionosphere is active (displays coherent structures or isotropic turbulence). The analysis demonstrates that unless ionospheric activity can be quantified and corrected, active data should not be included in EoR analysis in order to avoid systematic biases in cosmological power spectra. When data are corrected with a model formed from the calibration information, bias reduces below the expected 21 cm signal level. Data are considered "quiet" when the median measured source position offsets are less than 10.?-15.?

The Cosmic Dawn and Epoch of Reionization with the Square Kilometre Array

Concerted effort is currently ongoing to open up the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) ($z\sim$15-6) for studies with IR and radio telescopes. Whereas IR detections have been made of sources (Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters, quasars and drop-outs) in this redshift regime in relatively small fields of view, no direct detection of neutral hydrogen, via the redshifted 21-cm line, has yet been established. Such a direct detection is expected in the coming years, with ongoing surveys, and could open up the entire universe from $z\sim$6-200 for astrophysical and cosmological studies, opening not only the EoR, but also its preceding Cosmic Dawn ($z\sim$30-15) and possibly even the later phases of the Dark Ages ($z\sim$200-30). All currently ongoing experiments attempt statistical detections of the 21-cm signal during the EoR, with limited signal-to-noise. Direct imaging, except maybe on the largest (degree) scales at lower redshifts, as well as higher redshifts will remain out of reach. The Square Kilometre Array(SKA) will revolutionize the field, allowing direct imaging of neutral hydrogen from scales of arc-minutes to degrees over most of the redshift range $z\sim$6-28 with SKA1-LOW, and possibly even higher redshifts with the SKA2-LOW. In this SKA will be unique, and in parallel provide enormous potential of synergy with other upcoming facilities (e.g. JWST). In this chapter we summarize the physics of 21-cm emission, the different phases the universe is thought to go through, and the observables that the SKA can probe, referring where needed to detailed chapters in this volume (Abridged).Comment: Accepted for publication in the SKA Science Book 'Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array', to appear in 2015. PoS(AASKA14)00