107 research outputs found
Modeling the Radio Background from the First Black Holes at Cosmic Dawn: Implications for the 21 cm Absorption Amplitude
We estimate the 21 cm Radio Background from accretion onto the first
intermediate-mass Black Holes between and .
Combining potentially optimistic, but plausible, scenarios for black hole
formation and growth with empirical correlations between luminosity and
radio-emission observed in low-redshift active galactic nuclei, we find that a
model of black holes forming in molecular cooling halos is able to produce a 21
cm background that exceeds the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at though models involving larger halo masses are not entirely excluded. Such
a background could explain the surprisingly large amplitude of the 21 cm
absorption feature recently reported by the EDGES collaboration. Such black
holes would also produce significant X-ray emission and contribute to the
keV soft X-ray background at the level of
erg sec cm deg, consistent with existing constraints. In
order to avoid heating the IGM over the EDGES trough, these black holes would
need to be obscured by Hydrogen column depths of . Such black holes would avoid violating contraints on
the CMB optical depth from Planck if their UV photon escape fractions were
below , which would be a natural result of
imposed by an unheated IGM.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted to ApJ, replacement to match submitted
versio
Modeling the Radio Background from the First Black Holes at Cosmic Dawn: Implications for the 21 cm Absorption Amplitude
We estimate the 21 cm radio background from accretion onto the first intermediate-mass black holes between z β 30 and z β 16. Combining potentially optimistic, but plausible, scenarios for black hole formation and growth with empirical correlations between luminosity and radio emission observed in low-redshift active galactic nuclei, we find that a model of black holes forming in molecular cooling halos is able to produce a 21 cm background that exceeds the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at z β 17, though models involving larger halo masses are not entirely excluded. Such a background could explain the surprisingly large amplitude of the 21 cm absorption feature recently reported by the EDGES collaboration. Such black holes would also produce significant X-ray emission and contribute to the 0.5β2 keV soft X-ray background at the level of β10^(β13)β10^(β12) erg s^(β1)cm^(β2) deg^(β2), consistent with existing constraints. In order to avoid heating the intergalactic medium (IGM) over the EDGES trough, these black holes would need to be obscured by hydrogen column depths of N_H ~ 5 Γ 10^(23) cm^(β2). Such black holes would avoid violating constraints on the CMB optical depth from Planck if their UV photon escape fractions were below f_(esc) βΎ 0.1, which would be a natural result of N_H ~ 5 Γ 10^(23) cm^(β2) being imposed by an unheated IGM
WSCLEAN: an implementation of a fast, generic wide-field imager for radio astronomy
Astronomical wide-field imaging of interferometric radio data is computationally expensive, especially for the large data volumes created by modern non-coplanar many-element arrays. We present a new wide-field interferometric imager that uses the w-stacking algorithm and can make use of the w-snapshot algorithm. The performance dependences of CASA's w-projection and our new imager are analysed and analytical functions are derived that describe the required computing cost for both imagers. On data from the Murchison Widefield Array, we find our new method to be an order of magnitude faster than w-projection, as well as being capable of full-sky imaging at full resolution and with correct polarization correction. We predict the computing costs for several other arrays and estimate that our imager is a factor of 2-12 faster, depending on the array configuration. We estimate the computing cost for imaging the lowfrequency Square Kilometre Array observations to be 60 PetaFLOPS with current techniques. We find that combining w-stacking with the w-snapshot algorithm does not significantly improve computing requirements over pure w-stacking. The source code of our new imager is publicly released
WSClean : an implementation of a fast, generic wide-field imager for radio astronomy
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Β© 2014 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.Astronomical widefield imaging of interferometric radio data is computationally expensive, especially for the large data volumes created by modern non-coplanar many-element arrays. We present a new widefield interferometric imager that uses the w-stacking algorithm and can make use of the w-snapshot algorithm. The performance dependencies of CASA's w-projection and our new imager are analysed and analytical functions are derived that describe the required computing cost for both imagers. On data from the Murchison Widefield Array, we find our new method to be an order of magnitude faster than w-projection, as well as being capable of full-sky imaging at full resolution and with correct polarisation correction. We predict the computing costs for several other arrays and estimate that our imager is a factor of 2-12 faster, depending on the array configuration. We estimate the computing cost for imaging the low-frequency Square-Kilometre Array observations to be 60 PetaFLOPS with current techniques. We find that combining w-stacking with the w-snapshot algorithm does not significantly improve computing requirements over pure w-stacking. The source code of our new imager is publicly released.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio
Performance and on-sky optical characterization of the SPTpol instrument
In January 2012, the 10m South Pole Telescope (SPT) was equipped with a
polarization-sensitive camera, SPTpol, in order to measure the polarization
anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Measurements of the
polarization of the CMB at small angular scales (~several arcminutes) can
detect the gravitational lensing of the CMB by large scale structure and
constrain the sum of the neutrino masses. At large angular scales (~few
degrees) CMB measurements can constrain the energy scale of Inflation. SPTpol
is a two-color mm-wave camera that consists of 180 polarimeters at 90 GHz and
588 polarimeters at 150 GHz, with each polarimeter consisting of a dual
transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers. The full complement of 150 GHz
detectors consists of 7 arrays of 84 ortho-mode transducers (OMTs) that are
stripline coupled to two TES detectors per OMT, developed by the TRUCE
collaboration and fabricated at NIST. Each 90 GHz pixel consists of two
antenna-coupled absorbers coupled to two TES detectors, developed with Argonne
National Labs. The 1536 total detectors are read out with digital
frequency-domain multiplexing (DfMUX). The SPTpol deployment represents the
first on-sky tests of both of these detector technologies, and is one of the
first deployed instruments using DfMUX readout technology. We present the
details of the design, commissioning, deployment, on-sky optical
characterization and detector performance of the complete SPTpol focal plane.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures. Conference: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and
Instrumentation 201
Design and characterization of 90 GHz feedhorn-coupled TES polarimeter pixels in the SPTpol camera
The SPTpol camera is a two-color, polarization-sensitive bolometer receiver,
and was installed on the 10 meter South Pole Telescope in January 2012. SPTpol
is designed to study the faint polarization signals in the Cosmic Microwave
Background, with two primary scientific goals. One is to constrain the
tensor-to-scalar ratio of perturbations in the primordial plasma, and thus
constrain the space of permissible inflationary models. The other is to measure
the weak lensing effect of large-scale structure on CMB polarization, which can
be used to constrain the sum of neutrino masses as well as other growth-related
parameters. The SPTpol focal plane consists of seven 84-element monolithic
arrays of 150 GHz pixels (588 total) and 180 individual 90 GHz single-pixel
modules. In this paper we present the design and characterization of the 90 GHz
modules
Feedhorn-coupled TES polarimeter camera modules at 150 GHz for CMB polarization measurements with SPTpol
The SPTpol camera is a dichroic polarimetric receiver at 90 and 150 GHz.
Deployed in January 2012 on the South Pole Telescope (SPT), SPTpol is looking
for faint polarization signals in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The
camera consists of 180 individual Transition Edge Sensor (TES) polarimeters at
90 GHz and seven 84-polarimeter camera modules (a total of 588 polarimeters) at
150 GHz. We present the design, dark characterization, and in-lab optical
properties of the 150 GHz camera modules. The modules consist of
photolithographed arrays of TES polarimeters coupled to silicon platelet arrays
of corrugated feedhorns, both of which are fabricated at NIST-Boulder. In
addition to mounting hardware and RF shielding, each module also contains a set
of passive readout electronics for digital frequency-domain multiplexing. A
single module, therefore, is fully functional as a miniature focal plane and
can be tested independently. Across the modules tested before deployment, the
detectors average a critical temperature of 478 mK, normal resistance R_N of
1.2 Ohm, unloaded saturation power of 22.5 pW, (detector-only) optical
efficiency of ~ 90%, and have electrothermal time constants < 1 ms in
transition.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figure
South Pole Telescope Software Systems: Control, Monitoring, and Data Acquisition
We present the software system used to control and operate the South Pole
Telescope. The South Pole Telescope is a 10-meter millimeter-wavelength
telescope designed to measure anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background
(CMB) at arcminute angular resolution. In the austral summer of 2011/12, the
SPT was equipped with a new polarization-sensitive camera, which consists of
1536 transition-edge sensor bolometers. The bolometers are read out using 36
independent digital frequency multiplexing (\dfmux) readout boards, each with
its own embedded processors. These autonomous boards control and read out data
from the focal plane with on-board software and firmware. An overall control
software system running on a separate control computer controls the \dfmux
boards, the cryostat and all other aspects of telescope operation. This control
software collects and monitors data in real-time, and stores the data to disk
for transfer to the United States for analysis
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