Detection of Cosmological 21 cm Emission with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment

The Astrophysical Journal · 2023 · 82 citations

• Physics
• Astrophysics
• Astronomy

Abstract We present a detection of 21 cm emission from large-scale structure (LSS) between redshift 0.78 and 1.43 made with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment. Radio observations acquired over 102 nights are used to construct maps that are foreground filtered and stacked on the angular and spectral locations of luminous red galaxies (LRGs), emission-line galaxies (ELGs), and quasars (QSOs) from the eBOSS clustering catalogs. We find decisive evidence for a detection when stacking on all three tracers of LSS, with the logarithm of the Bayes factor equal to 18.9 (LRG), 10.8 (ELG), and 56.3 (QSO). An alternative frequentist interpretation, based on the likelihood ratio test, yields a detection significance of 7.1 σ (LRG), 5.7 σ (ELG), and 11.1 σ (QSO). These are the first 21 cm intensity mapping measurements made with an interferometer. We constrain the effective clustering amplitude of neutral hydrogen (H i ), defined as <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="italic"></mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">H</mml:mi> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mi mathsize="small" mathvariant="normal">I</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>≡</mml:mo> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Ω</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">H</mml:mi> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mi mathsize="small" mathvariant="normal">I</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mfenced close=")" open="("> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>b</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">H</mml:mi> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mi mathsize="small" mathvariant="normal">I</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mo stretchy="false">〈</mml:mo> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mi>f</mml:mi> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>μ</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> <mml:mo stretchy="false">〉</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:mfenced> </mml:math> , where Ω H i is the cosmic abundance of H i , b H i is the linear bias of H i , and 〈 f μ 2 〉 = 0.552 encodes the effect of redshift-space distortions at linear order. We find <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="italic"></mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">H</mml:mi> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mi mathsize="small" mathvariant="normal">I</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>1.51</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.97</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>3.60</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> </mml:math> for LRGs ( z = 0.84), <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="italic"></mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">H</mml:mi> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mi mathsize="small" mathvariant="normal">I</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>6.76</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>3.79</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>9.04</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> </mml:math> for ELGs ( z = 0.96), and <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="italic"></mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">H</mml:mi> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mi mathsize="small" mathvariant="normal">I</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>1.68</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.67</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1.10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> </mml:math> for QSOs ( z = 1.20), with constraints limited by modeling uncertainties at nonlinear scales. We are also sensitive to bias in the spectroscopic redshifts of each tracer, and we find a nonzero bias Δ v = − 66 ± 20 km s −1 for the QSOs. We split the QSO catalog into three redshift bins and have a decisive detection in each, with the upper bin at z = 1.30 producing the highest-redshift 21 cm intensity mapping measurement thus far.

An overview of CHIME, the Canadian hydrogen intensity mapping experiment

The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · 2022 · 144 citations

• Physics
• Astronomy
• Astrophysics

The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) is a drift scan radio telescope operating across the 400–800 MHz band. CHIME is located at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory near Penticton, BC, Canada. The instrument is designed to map neutral hydrogen over the redshift range 0.8–2.5 to constrain the expansion history of the universe. This goal drives the design features of the instrument. CHIME consists of four parallel cylindrical reflectors, oriented north–south, each 100 m × 20 m and outfitted with a 256-element dual-polarization linear feed array. CHIME observes a two-degree-wide stripe covering the entire meridian at any given moment, observing three-quarters of the sky every day owing to Earth's rotation. An FX correlator utilizes field-programmable gate arrays and graphics processing units to digitize and correlate the signals, with different correlation products generated for cosmological, fast radio burst, pulsar, very long baseline interferometry, and 21 cm absorber back ends. For the cosmology back end, the N²fₑₑd correlation matrix is formed for 1024 frequency channels across the band every 31 ms. A data receiver system applies calibration and flagging and, for our primary cosmological data product, stacks redundant baselines and integrates for 10 s. We present an overview of the instrument, its performance metrics based on the first 3 yr of science data, and we describe the current progress in characterizing CHIME's primary beam response. We also present maps of the sky derived from CHIME data; we are using versions of these maps for a cosmological stacking analysis, as well as for investigation of Galactic foregrounds.

The First CHIME/FRB Fast Radio Burst Catalog

The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · 2021 · 464 citations

• Physics
• Astrophysics

Abstract We present a catalog of 536 fast radio bursts (FRBs) detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst (CHIME/FRB) Project between 400 and 800 MHz from 2018 July 25 to 2019 July 1, including 62 bursts from 18 previously reported repeating sources. The catalog represents the first large sample, including bursts from repeaters and nonrepeaters, observed in a single survey with uniform selection effects. This facilitates comparative and absolute studies of the FRB population. We show that repeaters and apparent nonrepeaters have sky locations and dispersion measures (DMs) that are consistent with being drawn from the same distribution. However, bursts from repeating sources differ from apparent nonrepeaters in intrinsic temporal width and spectral bandwidth. Through injection of simulated events into our detection pipeline, we perform an absolute calibration of selection effects to account for systematic biases. We find evidence for a population of FRBs—composing a large fraction of the overall population—with a scattering time at 600 MHz in excess of 10 ms, of which only a small fraction are observed by CHIME/FRB. We infer a power-law index for the cumulative fluence distribution of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mi>α</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1.40</mml:mn> <mml:mo>±</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.11</mml:mn> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">stat.</mml:mi> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.09</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.06</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">sys.</mml:mi> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> </mml:math> , consistent with the −3/2 expectation for a nonevolving population in Euclidean space. We find that α is steeper for high-DM events and shallower for low-DM events, which is what would be expected when DM is correlated with distance. We infer a sky rate of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mo stretchy="false">[</mml:mo> <mml:mn>820</mml:mn> <mml:mo>±</mml:mo> <mml:mn>60</mml:mn> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">stat.</mml:mi> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>200</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>220</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">sys.</mml:mi> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> <mml:mo stretchy="false">]</mml:mo> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo stretchy="true">/</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">sky</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo stretchy="true">/</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">day</mml:mi> </mml:math> above a fluence of 5 Jy ms at 600 MHz, with a scattering time at 600 MHz under 10 ms and DM above 100 pc cm −3 .

A bright millisecond-duration radio burst from a Galactic magnetar

Nature · 2020 · 638 citations

• Astrophysics
• Physics
• Astronomy

Periodic activity from a fast radio burst source

Nature · 2020 · 383 citations

• Computer Science
• Computer Science
• Physics