Descrizione del progetto
Sondare l’alba cosmica grazie a una nuova modellizzazione
Le condizioni in cui si sono formate le prime galassie sono ancora misteriose. Il progetto FORWARD, finanziato dall’UE, si adopera per comprenderle meglio, creando modelli per alimentare una nuova generazione di radiotelescopi alla ricerca dell’alba cosmica. Avvalendosi di dati provenienti da interferometri quali l’Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) e il futuro Square Kilometre Array (SKA), che osservano le deboli linee di emissione a 21 cm provenienti dall’idrogeno neutro, il progetto creerà nuovi moduli integrabili per stimolare la risposta degli interferometri in modo che possano essere paragonati ai dati. I nuovi strumenti di analisi dovrebbero creare affidabilità nei rilevamenti riportati della formazione della galassia.
Obiettivo
FORWARD will enable a new generation of transformational probes of Cosmic Dawn (CD) to provide meaningful inference on key questions of galaxy formation. The CD contains some of the most sought-after insights into galaxy formation. Though these secrets remain locked away by a host of formidable real-world challenges, upcoming radio telescopes are optimistic. Interferometers such as HERA and future SKA, along with global experiments such as EDGES-3 are honed to observe the faint 21cm emission from neutral Hydrogen, redshifted to 50-150 MHz, in complementary ways. The dominant limitation of current experiments are spectral systematics that couple with overwhelmingly bright foregrounds. As we enter the regime in which the most extreme physical models begin to be ruled out by observations, meaningful inference of key parameters is most susceptible to inaccuracies in accounting for these systematics. Prior efforts to provide parameter constraints from CD have focused on forecasts, and treated systematics crudely and optimistically. FORWARD will synthesise the popular semi-numerical simulation code 21cmFAST and a radically overhauled parameter-inference engine, 21cmMC-2, with a series of new pluggable modules designed to efficiently forward-model the response of realistic interferometers, enabling the most direct comparison of theory to data. By applying this novel machinery jointly to observations from HERA and EDGES-3, we will (i) provide meaningful constraints on the parameters of galaxy formation during CD, (ii) build confidence in the reported detections, and (iii) enable future joint constraints from the SKA & EDGES-3. The framework developed will follow a legacy of code excellence, providing a bedrock for state-of-the-art developments over the coming years.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinatore
56126 Pisa
Italia