Jacqueline N. Hewitt
MIT
Friday, October 6, 2006
4:00 pm in SPL 57
21cm Experiments for Reionization and the Dark Ages: Plans and Progress
Abstract: Observations of the redshifted 21cm line of neutral hydrogen have the potential to probe the processes of structure formation and reionization in a unique way, complementing other techniques in cosmology. The high redshift means that observations have to be done at frequencies of 200 MHz and below, a part of the spectrum plagued by radio frequency interference. I will review the status of the first-generation experiments that currently are under construction. Even modest collecting areas should be capable of detecting the power spectrum of fluctuations and the largest "bubbles" around quasars. Second generation experiments could in principle map structures on a wide range of spatial scales and, through sensitive power spectrum measurements, serve as a new probe of cosmological models and of dark matter.
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