Probing the Epoch of Reionization by Intensity Mapping Ionized Carbon ([CII]) with TIME-Pilot

Crites Abigail T, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

Abigail Crites is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the California Institute of Technology. Crites will work on the development of the Tomographic Ionized Carbon Intensity Mapping Experiment (TIME-Pilot), a new instrument designed to measure signatures of ionized carbon in the early universe. This new instrument will improve our understanding of the history of star formation during a poorly studied period when the universe was evolving rapidly. The planned measurements will constrain the density of star formation and establish the technique of ionized carbon detection as a new, viable way of probing the early history of the forming universe. Alongside this work, Crites will conduct an outreach effort that first includes visits to Los Angeles area public high schools to provide a broad introduction to science, followed by bringing 1 - 2 students to work in the TIME-Pilot group's laboratory during the summer. The Tomographic Ionized Carbon Intensity Mapping Experiment (TIME-Pilot) is a new cryogenic, mm-wavelength spectrometer designed to measure clustering fluctuations in the 157.7 micrometer ionized carbon [CII] emission line during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) and carbon monoxide in the epoch of peak star formation rate. This will be accomplished through intensity mapping of [CII] in order to detect clustering fluctuations and test the predicted [CII] amplitudes of faint emission from the earliest dwarf galaxies. A [CII] detection with TIME-Pilot would constrain the density of EoR star formation and would make [CII] emission a viable new tool for understanding the EoR. Crites will focus on both completing the development of the TIME-Pilot instrument and conducting an analysis of the systematic effects from the foreground that will need to be accommodated in order to extract the [CII] signal. High school students in the outreach program will receive classroom visits describing the practice of science, followed by a small number of students being invited to work with the TIME-Pilot group's laboratory for hands-on experience during the summer.