Résumé / Abstract Seminaire_IAP
« The Precision Array to Probe the Epoch of Reionization »

Chris Carilli
National Radio Astron. Obs. (NRAO) (Charlottesville, Virginia, Etats-Unis d'Amérique)

Cosmic reionization is the 'final frontier' in studies of cosmic structure formation, corresponding to the epoch when light from the first stars and black holes act to reionize the neutral intergalactic medium, a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. I will present a brief review of the concept of reionization, and exciting recent results that set the first constraints on the epoch of reionization.

While revolutionary, current measures of cosmic reionization have fundamental limitations. The most direct probe of the neutral IGM during reionization is through the 21cm emission line of hydrogen. I will present the design and recent results from the Precision Array to Probe the Epoch of Reionization. PAPER comprises two low frequency dipole arrays (120 to 180 MHz) to study the HI 21cm signal from the neutral IGM during reionization: a 32 element engineering test array in Green Bank WV, USA, and a 128 element science array in the Karoo, South Africa. I will present the first all-sky images from our working arrays in the Karoo and Green Bank, details on the processing involved, and plans for expansion to the full science array.
vendredi 2 mars 2012 - 11:00
Amphithéâtre Henri Mineur, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
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