6 research outputs found
Design and implementation of a noise temperature measurement system for the Hydrogen Intensity and Real-time Analysis eXperiment (HIRAX)
This paper describes the design, implementation, and verification of a
test-bed for determining the noise temperature of radio antennas operating
between 400-800MHz. The requirements for this test-bed were driven by the HIRAX
experiment, which uses antennas with embedded amplification, making system
noise characterization difficult in the laboratory. The test-bed consists of
two large cylindrical cavities, each containing radio-frequency (RF) absorber
held at different temperatures (300K and 77K), allowing a measurement of system
noise temperature through the well-known 'Y-factor' method. The apparatus has
been constructed at Yale, and over the course of the past year has undergone
detailed verification measurements. To date, three preliminary noise
temperature measurement sets have been conducted using the system, putting us
on track to make the first noise temperature measurements of the HIRAX feed and
perform the first analysis of feed repeatability.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figure
Dark Energy studies using 21cm Intensity-Mapping with HIRAX and Lensing Detection from Galaxy Number Counts
This thesis aims to explore the possible explanations of the late-time accelerated expansion of our universe observed by a wide range of astronomical probes based on Earth as well as in space. We perform this study by mainly studying the properties of a mysterious major component called Dark Energy. Chapter 1 describes an upcoming radio-astronomy interferometric telescope in South Africa called Hydrogen Intensity Real-time Analysis eXperiment (HIRAX), the objectives of which include the detection of an observational probe called Baryon Acoustic Oscillation which could help us better understand the properties of Dark Energy. Chapters 2 and 3 describe the indirect study of Dark Energy properties via weak gravitational lensing of Galaxy Number counts in a standard model of our Universe and of the Cosmic Microwave Background for an observer in a large-scale local void universe. Finally, I conclude the thesis in chapter 4 by providing a summarized discussion and a brief outlook on some future possible extensions of this work.</p
Mechanical and Optical Design of the HIRAX Radio Telescope
The Hydrogen Intensity and Real-time Analysis eXperiment (HIRAX) is a planned interferometric radio telescope array that will ultimately consist of 1024 close packed 6 m dishes that will be deployed at the SKA South Africa site. HIRAX will survey the majority of the southern sky to measure baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) using the 21 cm hyperfine transition of neutral hydrogen. It will operate between 400-800 MHz with 391 kHz resolution, corresponding to a redshift range of and a minimum of ~0.003. One of the primary science goals of HIRAX is to constrain the dark energy equation of state by measuring the BAO scale as a function of redshift over a cosmologically significant range. Achieving this goal places stringent requirements on the mechanical and optical design of the HIRAX instrument which are described in this paper. This includes the simulations used to optimize the instrument, including the dish focal ratio, receiver support mechanism, and instrument cabling. As a result of these simulations, the dish focal ratio has been reduced to 0.23 to reduce inter-dish crosstalk, the feed support mechanism has been redesigned as a wide (35 cm diam.) central column, and the feed design has been modified to allow the cabling for the receiver to pass directly along the symmetry axis of the feed and dish in order to eliminate beam asymmetries and reduce sidelobe amplitudes. The beams from these full-instrument simulations are also used in an astrophysical m-mode analysis pipeline which is used to evaluate cosmological constraints and determine potential systematic contamination due to physical non-redundancies of the array elements. This end-to-end simulation pipeline was used to inform the dish manufacturing and assembly specifications which will guide the production and construction of the first-stage HIRAX 256-element array
Hydrogen Intensity and Real-Time Analysis Experiment: 256-element array status and overview
International audienceThe Hydrogen Intensity and Real-time Analysis Experiment (HIRAX) is a radio interferometer array currently in development, with an initial 256-element array to be deployed at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory Square Kilometer Array site in South Africa. Each of the 6 m, f / 0.23 dishes will be instrumented with dual-polarization feeds operating over a frequency range of 400 to 800 MHz. Through intensity mapping of the 21 cm emission line of neutral hydrogen, HIRAX will provide a cosmological survey of the distribution of large-scale structure over the redshift range of 0.775 < z < 2.55 over ∼15,000 square degrees of the southern sky. The statistical power of such a survey is sufficient to produce ∼7 % constraints on the dark energy equation of state parameter when combined with measurements from the Planck satellite. Additionally, HIRAX will provide a highly competitive platform for radio transient and HI absorber science while enabling a multitude of cross-correlation studies. We describe the science goals of the experiment, overview of the design and status of the subcomponents of the telescope system, and describe the expected performance of the initial 256-element array as well as the planned future expansion to the final, 1024-element array