|
Observations of large scale 21cm emission from Hydrogen in the early Universe is an emerging technique on the cusp of a major breakthrough. Once realized, 21cm cosmology will transform our understanding of how the first stars, galaxies, and black holes formed, reionized the Universe, and set the stage for the sources we observe at later times. As an exquisite probe of large scale structure, 21cm also promises to shed light on fundamental physics including dark energy. Vastly brighter foreground emission and spectral variations in the bandpasses of radio telescopes together pose formidable obstacles to the realization of 21cm science. I will overview recent advances I’ve developed in systematics mitigation that are enabling the best upper limits in the field and even a first detection at lower redshifts, focusing on my work on SKA precursors including the Murchison Widefield Array and the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array. I will finish by outlining the analysis and instrumentation directions that I think will enable the next major sensitivity improvements. |
|