The tianlai cylinder pathfinder array: System functions and basic performance analysis
Loading...
Date
2020
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer
Abstract
The Tianlai Cylinder Pathfinder is a radio interferometer array designed to test techniques for 21 cm intensity mapping in the
post-reionization Universe, with the ultimate aim of mapping the large scale structure and measuring cosmological parameters
such as the dark energy equation of state. Each of its three parallel cylinder reflectors is oriented in the north-south direction, and
the array has a large field of view. As the Earth rotates, the northern sky is observed by drift scanning. The array is located in
Hongliuxia, a radio-quiet site in Xinjiang, and saw its first light in September 2016. In this first data analysis paper for the Tianlai
cylinder array, we discuss the sub-system qualification tests, and present basic system performance obtained from preliminary
analysis of the commissioning observations during 2016-2018. We show typical interferometric visibility data, from which we
derive the actual beam profile in the east-west direction and the frequency band-pass response. We describe also the calibration
process to determine the complex gains for the array elements, either using bright astronomical point sources, or an artificial on
site calibrator source, and discuss the instrument response stability, crucial for transit interferometry. Based on this analysis, we
find a system temperature of about 90 K, and we also estimate the sensitivity of the array.
Description
Keywords
Interferometer, Radio astronomy, Neutral hydrogen, Dark energy
Citation
Li, J., Zuo, S., Wu, F. et al. The Tianlai Cylinder Pathfinder array: System functions and basic performance analysis. Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 63, 129862 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-020-1594-8