When and how did the first stars and galaxies form? The earliest generations arose in the first billion years after the Big Bang. However, detailed understanding is based largely on theory. Actualdata are rare and inform us only about individual lines of sight. A new generation of very wide field radio telescopes is being built to observe the 21 cm transition of Hydrogen that traces the diffuse intergalactic medium (IGM) from which the stars and galaxies formed, and this may enable a fuller picture. Chiefly, these telescopes are massive arrays of VHF dipoles. The elements are simple, but a price is paid in signal processing, which requires high degrees of parallelism, and new algorithms and techniques. GPU computing is an existing technology that holds promise. I will describe the newly funded LEDA array and its goal of detecting in observation of the IGM evidence of stars and galaxies at the end of the Dark Age, when the fractional age of the Universe was < 1%.
December 2, 2011
11:00 am
Array Operations Center Auditorium
All NRAO employees are invited to attend via video, available in Charlottesville Room 230, Green Bank Room 137 and Tucson N525.
Local Host: Mark Claussen