Microarcsecond Radio Imaging using Earth Orbit Synthesis

The observed interstellar scintillation pattern of an intra-day variable radio source is influenced by its source structure. If the velocity of the interstellar medium responsible for the scattering is comparable to the earth's, the vector sum of these allows an observer to probe the scintillation pattern of a source in two dimensions and, in turn, to probe two-dimensional source structure on scales comparable to the angular scale of the scintillation pattern, typically $\sim 10 \mu$as for weak scattering. We review the theory on the extraction of an ``image'' from the scintillation properties of a source, and show how earth's orbital motion changes a source's observed scintillation properties during the course of a year. The imaging process, which we call Earth Orbit Synthesis, requires measurements of the statistical properties of the scintillations at epochs spread throughout the course of a year.Comment: ApJ in press. 25 pages, 7 fig

Shape Reconstruction and Weak Lensing Measurement with Interferometers: A Shapelet Approach

We present a new approach for image reconstruction and weak lensing measurements with interferometers. Based on the shapelet formalism presented in Refregier (2001), object images are decomposed into orthonormal Hermite basis functions. The shapelet coefficients of a collection of sources are simultaneously fit on the uv plane, the Fourier transform of the sky brightness distribution observed by interferometers. The resulting chi-square fit is linear in its parameters and can thus be performed efficiently by simple matrix multiplications. We show how the complex effects of bandwidth smearing, time averaging and non-coplanarity of the array can be easily and fully corrected for in our method. Optimal image reconstruction, co-addition, astrometry, and photometry can all be achieved using weighted sums of the derived coefficients. As an example we consider the observing conditions of the FIRST radio survey (Becker et al. 1995; White et al. 1997). We find that our method accurately recovers the shapes of simulated images even for the sparse uv sampling of this snapshot survey. Using one of the FIRST pointings, we find our method compares well with CLEAN, the commonly used method for interferometric imaging. Our method has the advantage of being linear in the fit parameters, of fitting all sources simultaneously, and of providing the full covariance matrix of the coefficients, which allows us to quantify the errors and cross-talk in image shapes. It is therefore well-suited for quantitative shape measurements which require high-precision. In particular, we show how our method can be combined with the results of Refregier & Bacon (2001) to provide an accurate measurement of weak lensing from interferometric data.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures. To appear in ApJ; minor changes to match accepted versio

Low-Frequency Radio Transients in the Galactic Center

We report the detection of a new radio transient source, GCRT J1746-2757, located only 1.1 degrees north of the Galactic center. Consistent with other radio transients toward the Galactic center, this source brightened and faded on a time scale of a few months. No X-ray counterpart was detected. We also report new 0.33 GHz measurements of the radio counterpart to the X-ray transient source, XTE J1748-288, previously detected and monitored at higher radio frequencies. We show that the spectrum of XTE J1748-288 steepened considerably during a period of a few months after its peak. We also discuss the need for a more efficient means of finding additional radio transients

Primary Beam Shape Calibration from Mosaicked, Interferometric Observations

Image quality in mosaicked observations from interferometric radio telescopes is strongly dependent on the accuracy with which the antenna primary beam is calibrated. The next generation of radio telescope arrays such as the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) and the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) have key science goals that involve making large mosaicked observations filled with bright point sources. We present a new method for calibrating the shape of the telescope's mean primary beam that uses the multiple redundant observations of these bright sources in the mosaic. The method has an analytical solution for simple Gaussian beam shapes but can also be applied to more complex beam shapes through $\chi^2$ minimization. One major benefit of this simple, conceptually clean method is that it makes use of the science data for calibration purposes, thus saving telescope time and improving accuracy through simultaneous calibration and observation. We apply the method both to 1.43 GHz data taken during the ATA Twenty Centimeter Survey (ATATS) and to 3.14 GHz data taken during the ATA's Pi Gigahertz Sky Survey (PiGSS). We find that the beam's calculated full width at half maximum (FWHM) values are consistent with the theoretical values, the values measured by several independent methods, and the values from the simulation we use to demonstrate the effectiveness of our method on data from future telescopes such as the expanded ATA and the SKA. These results are preliminary, and can be expanded upon by fitting more complex beam shapes. We also investigate, by way of a simulation, the dependence of the accuracy of the telescope's FWHM on antenna number. We find that the uncertainty returned by our fitting method is inversely proportional to the number of antennas in the array.Comment: Accepted by PASP. 8 pages, 8 figure

Influence of symmetry and Coulomb-correlation effects on the optical properties of nitride quantum dots

The electronic and optical properties of self-assembled InN/GaN quantum dots (QDs) are investigated by means of a tight-binding model combined with configuration interaction calculations. Tight-binding single particle wave functions are used as a basis for computing Coulomb and dipole matrix elements. Within this framework, we analyze multi-exciton emission spectra for two different sizes of a lens-shaped InN/GaN QD with wurtzite crystal structure. The impact of the symmetry of the involved electron and hole one-particle states on the optical spectra is discussed in detail. Furthermore we show how the characteristic features of the spectra can be interpreted using a simplified Hamiltonian which provides analytical results for the interacting multi-exciton complexes. We predict a vanishing exciton and biexciton ground state emission for small lens-shaped InN/GaN QDs. For larger systems we report a bright ground state emission but with drastically reduced oscillator strengths caused by the quantum confined Stark effect.Comment: 15 pages, 17 figure

Development of a unified tensor calculus for the exceptional Lie algebras

The uniformity of the decomposition law, for a family F of Lie algebras which includes the exceptional Lie algebras, of the tensor powers ad^n of their adjoint representations ad is now well-known. This paper uses it to embark on the development of a unified tensor calculus for the exceptional Lie algebras. It deals explicitly with all the tensors that arise at the n=2 stage, obtaining a large body of systematic information about their properties and identities satisfied by them. Some results at the n=3 level are obtained, including a simple derivation of the the dimension and Casimir eigenvalue data for all the constituents of ad^3. This is vital input data for treating the set of all tensors that enter the picture at the n=3 level, following a path already known to be viable for a_1. The special way in which the Lie algebra d_4 conforms to its place in the family F alongside the exceptional Lie algebras is described.Comment: 27 pages, LaTeX 2

A Fast Gridded Method for the Estimation of the Power Spectrum of the CMB from Interferometer Data with Application to the Cosmic Background Imager

We describe an algorithm for the extraction of the angular power spectrum of an intensity field, such as the cosmic microwave background (CMB), from interferometer data. This new method, based on the gridding of interferometer visibilities in the aperture plane followed by a maximum likelihood solution for bandpowers, is much faster than direct likelihood analysis of the visibilities, and deals with foreground radio sources, multiple pointings, and differencing. The gridded aperture-plane estimators are also used to construct Wiener-filtered images using the signal and noise covariance matrices used in the likelihood analysis. Results are shown for simulated data. The method has been used to determine the power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background from observations with the Cosmic Background Imager, and the results are given in companion papers.Comment: Submitted to The Astrophysical Journal; 47 pages including 6 color figures. Additional information at http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~tjp/CBI

Radio Observations of HD 80606 Near Planetary Periastron

This paper reports Very Large Array observations at 325 and 1425 MHz (90cm and 20cm) during and near the periastron passage of HD 80606b on 2007 November 20. We obtain flux density limits (3-sigma) of 1.7 mJy and 48 microJy at 325 and 1425 MHz, respectively, equivalent to planetary luminosity limits of 2.3 x 10^{24} erg/s and 2.7 x 10^{23} erg/s. These are well above the Jovian value (at 40 MHz) of 2 x 10^{18} erg/s. The motivation for these observations was that the planetary magnetospheric emission is driven by a stellar wind-planetary magnetosphere interaction so that the planetary luminosity would be elevated. Near periastron, HD 80606b might be as much as 3000 times more luminous than Jupiter. Recent transit observations of HD 80606b provide stringent constraints on the planetary mass and radius, and, because of the planet's highly eccentric orbit, its rotation period is likely to be "pseudo-synchronized" to its orbital period, allowing a robust estimate of the former. We are able to make robust estimates of the emission frequency of the planetary magnetospheric emission and find it to be around 60--90 MHz. We compare HD 80606b to other high-eccentricity systems and assess the detection possibilities for both near-term and more distant future systems. Of the known high eccentricity planets, only HD 80606b is likely to be detectable, as HD 20782B b and HD 4113b are both likely to have weaker magnetic field strengths. Both the forthcoming "EVLA low band" system and the Low Frequency Array may be able to improve upon our limits for HD 80606b, and do so at a more optimum frequency. If the low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA-lo) and a future lunar radio array are able to approach their thermal noise limits, they should be able to detect an HD 80606b-like planet, unless the planet's luminosity increases by substantially less than a factor of 3000.Comment: 9 pages; accepted for publication in A

High-Resolution, Wide-Field Imaging of the Galactic Center Region at 330 MHz

We present a wide field, sub-arcminute resolution VLA image of the Galactic Center region at 330 MHz. With a resolution of ~ 7" X 12" and an RMS noise of 1.6 mJy/beam, this image represents a significant increase in resolution and sensitivity over the previously published VLA image at this frequency. The improved sensitivity has more than tripled the census of small diameter sources in the region, has resulted in the detection of two new Non Thermal Filaments (NTFs), 18 NTF candidates, 30 pulsar candidates, reveals previously known extended sources in greater detail, and has resulted in the first detection of Sagittarius A* in this frequency range. A version of this paper containing full resolution images may be found at http://lwa.nrl.navy.mil/nord/AAAB.pdf.Comment: Astronomical Journal, Accepted 62 Pages, 21 Figure