NPA Seminar, Simon Foreman, Perimeter Institute, “Detection of Cosmological 21cm Emission with CHIME”

Abstract: Intensity mapping of redshifted 21cm emission from neutral hydrogen holds great promise for learning about cosmology, as it provides an efficient way to map large volumes of the universe without the need to characterize individual luminous sources. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) is a cylinder telescope located in Western Canada that was custom-built for this purpose, and that has collected several hundred days’ worth of data since it reached full observational capacity in late 2018. After reviewing the scientific motivation for CHIME, I will provide an overview of the design and operational status of the telescope, and then present its first 21cm science results: detection of a cross-correlation between CHIME sky maps and galaxy/quasar catalogs from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS). In particular, I will discuss our data processing pipeline and how we model the measured signal, as well as the physical implications and prospects for more precise future measurements.
Please email the host for the Zoom connection information.
Host: Michael Jewell, michael.jewell@yale.edu