| 1. |
- Abt, I, et al.
(författare)
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Inclusive V-0 production cross sections from 920 GeV fixed target proton-nucleus collisions
- 2003
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Ingår i: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 29:2, s. 181-190
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Inclusive differential cross sections dsigma(pA)/dx(F) and dsigma(pA)/dp(t)(2) for the production of K-S(0), Lambda, and (&ULambda;) over bar particles are measured at HERA in proton-induced reactions on C, Al, Ti, and W targets. The incident beam energy is 920 GeV, corresponding to roots = 41.6 GeV in the proton-nucleon system. The ratios of differential cross sections dsigma(pA)(K-S(0))/dsigma(pA)(Lambda) and dsigma(pA)((&ULambda;) over bar)/dsigma(pA) (Lambda) are measured to be 6.2 +/- 0.5 and 0.66 +/- 0.07, respectively, for x(F) approximate to -0.06. No significant dependence upon the target material is observed. Within errors, the slopes of the transverse momentum distributions da,Ald t also show no significant dependence upon the target material. The dependence of the extrapolated total cross sections sigma(pA) on the atomic mass A of the target material is discussed, and the deduced cross sections per nucleon sigma(pN) are compared with results obtained at other energies.
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| 2. |
- Abt, I, et al.
(författare)
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Measurement of the b(b)over-bar production cross section in 920 GeV fixed-target proton-nucleus collisions
- 2003
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Ingår i: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 26:3, s. 345-355
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Using the HERA-B detector, the b (b) over bar production cross section has been measured in 920 GeV proton collisions on carbon and titanium targets. The b (b) over bar production was tagged via inclusive bottom quark decays into J/psi by exploiting the longitudinal separation of J/psi --> l(+)l(-) decay vertices from the primary proton-nucleus interaction. Both e(+)e(-) and mu(+)mu(-) channels have been reconstructed and the combined analysis yields the cross section sigma(b (b) over bar) = 32(-12)(+14)(stat) (+6)(-7)(sys) nb/nucleon.
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| 3. |
- van Haarlem, M. P., et al.
(författare)
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LOFAR : The LOw-Frequency ARray
- 2013
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 556, s. 1-53
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- LOFAR, the LOw-Frequency ARray, is a new-generation radio interferometer constructed in the north of the Netherlands and across europe. Utilizing a novel phased-array design, LOFAR covers the largely unexplored low-frequency range from 10–240 MHz and provides a number of unique observing capabilities. Spreading out from a core located near the village of Exloo in the northeast of the Netherlands, a total of 40 LOFAR stations are nearing completion. A further five stations have been deployed throughout Germany, and one station has been built in each of France, Sweden, and the UK. Digital beam-forming techniques make the LOFAR system agile and allow for rapid repointing of the telescope as well as the potential for multiple simultaneous observations. With its dense core array and long interferometric baselines, LOFAR achieves unparalleled sensitivity and angular resolution in the low-frequency radio regime. The LOFAR facilities are jointly operated by the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) foundation, as an observatory open to the global astronomical community. LOFAR is one of the first radio observatories to feature automated processing pipelines to deliver fully calibrated science products to its user community. LOFAR’s new capabilities, techniques and modus operandi make it an important pathfinder for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). We give an overview of the LOFAR instrument, its major hardware and software components, and the core science objectives that have driven its design. In addition, we present a selection of new results from the commissioning phase of this new radio observatory.
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| 4. |
- Heald, G. H., et al.
(författare)
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The LOFAR Multifrequency Snapshot Sky Survey (MSSS) : I. Survey description and first results
- 2015
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 582, s. 1-22
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the Multifrequency Snapshot Sky Survey (MSSS), the first northern-sky Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) imaging survey. In this introductory paper, we first describe in detail the motivation and design of the survey. Compared to previous radio surveys, MSSS is exceptional due to its intrinsic multifrequency nature providing information about the spectral properties of the detected sources over more than two octaves (from 30 to 160 MHz). The broadband frequency coverage, together with the fast survey speed generated by LOFAR’s multibeaming capabilities, make MSSS the first survey of the sort anticipated to be carried out with the forthcoming Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Two of the sixteen frequency bands included in the survey were chosen to exactly overlap the frequency coverage of large-area Very Large Array (VLA) and Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) surveys at 74 MHz and 151 MHz respectively. The survey performance is illustrated within the MSSS Verification Field (MVF), a region of 100 square degrees centered at (α,δ)J2000 = (15h,69°). The MSSS results from the MVF are compared with previous radio survey catalogs. We assess the flux and astrometric uncertainties in the catalog, as well as the completeness and reliability considering our source finding strategy. We determine the 90% completeness levels within the MVF to be 100 mJy at 135 MHz with 108″ resolution, and 550 mJy at 50 MHz with 166″ resolution. Images and catalogs for the full survey, expected to contain 150 000–200 000 sources, will be released to a public web server. We outline the plans for the ongoing production of the final survey products, and the ultimate public release of images and source catalogs.
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| 5. |
- Buitink, S., et al.
(författare)
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A large light-mass component of cosmic rays at 1017–1017.5 electronvolts from radio observations
- 2016
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 531:7592, s. 70-73
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cosmic rays are the highest-energy particles found in nature. Measurements of the mass composition of cosmic rays with energies of 1017–1018 electronvolts are essential to understanding whether they have galactic or extragalactic sources. It has also been proposed that the astrophysical neutrino signal1 comes from accelerators capable of producing cosmic rays of these energies2. Cosmic rays initiate air showers—cascades of secondary particles in the atmosphere—and their masses can be inferred from measurements of the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum3 (Xmax; the depth of the air shower when it contains the most particles) or of the composition of shower particles reaching the ground4. Current measurements5 have either high uncertainty, or a low duty cycle and a high energy threshold. Radio detection of cosmic rays6, 7, 8 is a rapidly developing technique9 for determining Xmax (refs 10, 11) with a duty cycle of, in principle, nearly 100 per cent. The radiation is generated by the separation of relativistic electrons and positrons in the geomagnetic field and a negative charge excess in the shower front6, 12. Here we report radio measurements of Xmax with a mean uncertainty of 16 grams per square centimetre for air showers initiated by cosmic rays with energies of 1017–1017.5 electronvolts. This high resolution in Xmax enables us to determine the mass spectrum of the cosmic rays: we find a mixed composition, with a light-mass fraction (protons and helium nuclei) of about 80 per cent. Unless, contrary to current expectations, the extragalactic component of cosmic rays contributes substantially to the total flux below 1017.5 electronvolts, our measurements indicate the existence of an additional galactic component, to account for the light composition that we measured in the 1017–1017.5 electronvolt range.
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| 6. |
- Jelic, V., et al.
(författare)
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Initial LOFAR observations of epoch of reionization windows II. Diffuse polarized emission in the ELAIS-N1 field
- 2014
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 568, s. A101-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. This study aims to characterise the polarized foreground emission in the ELAIS-N1 field and to address its possible implications or extracting of the cosmological 21 cm signal from the LOw-Frequency ARray - Epoch of Reionization (LOFAR-EoR) data Methods. We used the high band antennas of LOFAR to image this region and RM-synthesis to unravel structures of polarized emission at high Galactic latitudes. Results. The brightness temperature of the detected Galactic emission is on average similar to 4 K in polarized intensity and covers the range from -10 to +13 rad m(-2) in Faraday depth, The total polarized intensity and polarization angle show a wide range of morphological features. We have also used the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) at 350 MHz to image the same region. The LOFAR and WSRT images show a similar complex morphology at comparable brightness levels, but their spatial correlation is very low. The fractional polarization at 150 MHz, expressed as a percentage of the total intensity, amounts to approximate to 1.5%. There is no indication of diffuse emission in total intensity in the interferometric data. in line with results at higher frequencies Conclusions. The wide frequency range. high angular resolution, and high sensitivity make LOFAR an exquisite instrument for studying Galactic polarized emission at a resolution of similar to 1-2 rad m(-2) in Faraday depth. The different polarized patterns observed at 150 MHz and 350 MHz are consistent with different source distributions along the line of sight wring in a variety of Faraday thin regions of emission. The presence of polarized foregrounds is a serious complication for epoch of reionization experiments. To avoid the leakage of polarized emission into total intensity, which can depend on frequency, we need to calibrate the instrumental polarization across the field of view to a small fraction of 1%.
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| 7. |
- Hermsen, W., et al.
(författare)
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Synchronous X-ray and Radio Mode Switches: A Rapid Global Transformation of the Pulsar Magnetosphere
- 2013
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 339:6118, s. 436-439
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pulsars emit from low-frequency radio waves up to high-energy gamma-rays, generated anywhere from the stellar surface out to the edge of the magnetosphere. Detecting correlated mode changes across the electromagnetic spectrum is therefore key to understanding the physical relationship among the emission sites. Through simultaneous observations, we detected synchronous switching in the radio and x-ray emission properties of PSR B0943+10. When the pulsar is in a sustained radio-"bright" mode, the x-rays show only an unpulsed, nonthermal component. Conversely, when the pulsar is in a radio-"quiet" mode, the x-ray luminosity more than doubles and a 100% pulsed thermal component is observed along with the nonthermal component. This indicates rapid, global changes to the conditions in the magnetosphere, which challenge all proposed pulsar emission theories.
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| 8. |
- Oonk, J. B. R., et al.
(författare)
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Discovery of carbon radio recombination lines in absorption towards Cygnus A
- 2014
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 437:4, s. 3506-3515
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the first detection of carbon radio recombination line absorption along the line of sight to Cygnus A. The observations were carried out with the Low Frequency Array in the 33–57 MHz range. These low-frequency radio observations provide us with a new line of sight to study the diffuse, neutral gas in our Galaxy. To our knowledge this is the first time that foreground Milky Way recombination line absorption has been observed against a bright extragalactic background source. By stacking 48 carbon α lines in the observed frequency range we detect carbon absorption with a signal-to-noise ratio of about 5. The average carbon absorption has a peak optical depth of 2 × 10−4, a line width of 10 km s−1 and a velocity of +4 km s−1 with respect to the local standard of rest. The associated gas is found to have an electron temperature Te ∼ 110 K and density ne ∼ 0.06 cm−3. These properties imply that the observed carbon α absorption likely arises in the cold neutral medium of the Orion arm of the Milky Way. Hydrogen and helium lines were not detected to a 3σ peak optical depth limit of 1.5 × 10−4 for a 4 km s−1 channel width. Radio recombination lines associated with Cygnus A itself were also searched for, but are not detected. We set a 3σ upper limit of 1.5 × 10−4 for the peak optical depth of these lines for a 4 km s−1 channel width.
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| 9. |
- van Weeren, R. J., et al.
(författare)
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Lofar low-band antenna observations of the 3C 295 and boötes fields: Source counts and ultra-steep spectrum sources
- 2014
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 793:2, s. art. 82-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) Low Band observations of the Bootes and 3C 295 fields. Our images made at 34, 46, and 62 MHz reach noise levels of 12, 8, and 5 mJy beam(-1), making them the deepest images ever obtained in this frequency range. In total, we detect between 300 and 400 sources in each of these images, covering an area of 17-52 deg(2). From the observations, we derive Euclidean-normalized differential source counts. The 62 MHz source counts agree with previous GMRT 153 MHz and Very Large Array 74 MHz differential source counts, scaling with a spectral index of -0.7. We find that a spectral index scaling of -0.5 is required to match up the LOFAR 34 MHz source counts. This result is also in agreement with source counts from the 38 MHz 8C survey, indicating that the average spectral index of radio sources flattens toward lower frequencies. We also find evidence for spectral flattening using the individual flux measurements of sources between 34 and 1400 MHz and by calculating the spectral index averaged over the source population. To select ultra-steep spectrum (alpha
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| 10. |
- Schellart, P., et al.
(författare)
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Detecting cosmic rays with the LOFAR radio telescope
- 2013
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 560, s. 1-14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The low frequency array (LOFAR), is the first radio telescope designed with the capability to measure radio emission from cosmic-ray induced air showers in parallel with interferometric observations. In the first ~2 years of observing, 405 cosmic-ray events in the energy range of 1016−1018 eV have been detected in the band from 30−80 MHz. Each of these air showers is registered with up to ~1000 independent antennas resulting in measurements of the radio emission with unprecedented detail. This article describes the dataset, as well as the analysis pipeline, and serves as a reference for future papers based on these data. All steps necessary to achieve a full reconstruction of the electric field at every antenna position are explained, including removal of radio frequency interference, correcting for the antenna response and identification of the pulsed signal.
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| 11. |
- Corstanje, A., et al.
(författare)
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The shape of the radio wavefront of extensive air showers as measured with LOFAR
- 2015
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 61, s. 22-31
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Extensive air showers, induced by high energy cosmic rays impinging on the Earth’s atmosphere, produce radio emission that is measured with the LOFAR radio telescope. As the emission comes from a finite distance of a few kilometers, the incident wavefront is non-planar. A spherical, conical or hyperbolic shape of the wavefront has been proposed, but measurements of individual air showers have been inconclusive so far. For a selected high-quality sample of 161 measured extensive air showers, we have reconstructed the wavefront by measuring pulse arrival times to sub-nanosecond precision in 200 to 350 individual antennas. For each measured air shower, we have fitted a conical, spherical, and hyperboloid shape to the arrival times. The fit quality and a likelihood analysis show that a hyperboloid is the best parameterization. Using a non-planar wavefront shape gives an improved angular resolution, when reconstructing the shower arrival direction. Furthermore, a dependence of the wavefront shape on the shower geometry can be seen. This suggests that it will be possible to use a wavefront shape analysis to get an additional handle on the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum, which is sensitive to the mass of the primary particle.
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| 12. |
- Offringa, A. R., et al.
(författare)
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The LOFAR radio environment
- 2012
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 549
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. This paper discusses the spectral occupancy for performing radio astronomy with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR), with a focus on imaging observations.Methods. We have analysed the radio-frequency interference (RFI) situation in two 24-h surveys with Dutch LOFAR stations, covering 30-78 MHz with low-band antennas and 115-163 MHz with high-band antennas. This is a subset of the full frequency range of LOFAR. The surveys have been observed with a 0.76 kHz/1 s resolution.Results. We measured the RFI occupancy in the low and high frequency sets to be 1.8% and 3.2% respectively. These values are found to be representative values for the LOFAR radio environment. Between day and night, there is no significant difference in the radio environment. We find that lowering the current observational time and frequency resolutions of LOFAR results in a slight loss of flagging accuracy. At LOFAR's nominal resolution of 0.76 kHz and 1 s, the false-positives rate is about 0.5%. This rate increases approximately linearly when decreasing the data frequency resolution.Conclusions. Currently, by using an automated RFI detection strategy, the LOFAR radio environment poses no perceivable problems for sensitive observing. It remains to be seen if this is still true for very deep observations that integrate over tens of nights, but the situation looks promising. Reasons for the low impact of RFI are the high spectral and time resolution of LOFAR; accurate detection methods; strong filters and high receiver linearity; and the proximity of the antennas to the ground. We discuss some strategies that can be used once low-level RFI starts to become apparent. It is important that the frequency range of LOFAR remains free of broadband interference, such as DAB stations and windmills.
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| 13. |
- Schellart, P., et al.
(författare)
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Probing Atmospheric Electric Fields in Thunderstorms through Radio Emission from Cosmic-Ray-Induced Air Showers
- 2015
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Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 114:16, s. 1-5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present measurements of radio emission from cosmic ray air showers that took place during thunderstorms. The intensity and polarization patterns of these air showers are radically different from those measured during fair-weather conditions. With the use of a simple two-layer model for the atmospheric electric field, these patterns can be well reproduced by state-of-the-art simulation codes. This in turn provides a novel way to study atmospheric electric fields.
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| 14. |
- Yatawatta, S., et al.
(författare)
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Initial deep LOFAR observations of epoch of reionization windows I. The north celestial pole
- 2013
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 550, s. A136-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. The aim of the LOFAR epoch of reionization (EoR) project is to detect the spectral fluctuations of the redshifted HI 21 cm signal. This signal is weaker by several orders of magnitude than the astrophysical foreground signals and hence, in order to achieve this, very long integrations, accurate calibration for stations and ionosphere and reliable foreground removal are essential. Methods. One of the prospective observing windows for the LOFAR EoR project will be centered at the north celestial pole (NCP). We present results from observations of the NCP window using the LOFAR highband antenna (HBA) array in the frequency range 115 MHz to 163 MHz. The data were obtained in April 2011 during the commissioning phase of LOFAR. We used baselines up to about 30 km. The data was processed using a dedicated processing pipeline which is an enhanced version of the standard LOFAR processing pipeline. Results. With about 3 nights, of 6 h each, effective integration we have achieved a noise level of about 100 mu Jy/PSF in the NCP window. Close to the NCP, the noise level increases to about 180 mu Jy/PSF, mainly due to additional contamination from unsubtracted nearby sources. We estimate that in our best night, we have reached a noise level only a factor of 1.4 above the thermal limit set by the noise from our Galaxy and the receivers. Our continuum images are several times deeper than have been achieved previously using the WSRT and GMRT arrays. We derive an analytical explanation for the excess noise that we believe to be mainly due to sources at large angular separation from the NCP. We present some details of the data processing challenges and how we solved them. Conclusions. Although many LOFAR stations were, at the time of the observations, in a still poorly calibrated state we have seen no artefacts in our images which would prevent us from producing deeper images in much longer integrations on the NCP window which are about to commence. The limitations present in our current results are mainly due to sidelobe noise from the large number of distant sources, as well as errors related to station beam variations and rapid ionospheric phase fluctuations acting on bright sources. We are confident that we can improve our results with refined processing.
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| 15. |
- Asgekar, A., et al.
(författare)
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LOFAR detections of low-frequency radio recombination lines towards Cassiopeia A
- 2013
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 551
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cassiopeia A was observed using the low-band antennas of the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) with high spectral resolution. This allowed a search for radio recombination lines (RRLs) along the line-of-sight to this source. Five carbon alpha RRLs were detected in absorption between 40 and 50 MHz with a signal-to-noise ratio of >5 from two independent LOFAR data sets. The derived line velocities (v(LSR) similar to -50 km s(-1)) and integrated optical depths (similar to 13 s(-1)) of the RRLs in our spectra, extracted over the whole supernova remnant, are consistent within each LOFAR data set and with those previously reported. For the first time, we are able to extract spectra against the brightest hotspot of the remnant at frequencies below 330 MHz. These spectra show significantly higher (15-80 percent) integrated optical depths, indicating that there is small-scale angular structure of the order of similar to 1 pc in the absorbing gas distribution over the face of the remnant. We also place an upper limit of 3 x 10(-4) on the peak optical depths of hydrogen and helium RRLs. These results demonstrate that LOFAR has the desired spectral stability and sensitivity to study faint recombination lines in the decameter band.
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| 16. |
- De Gasperin, F., et al.
(författare)
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Cassiopeia A, Cygnus A, Taurus A, and Virgo A at ultra-low radio frequencies
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 635
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The four persistent radio sources in the northern sky with the highest flux density at metre wavelengths are Cassiopeia A, Cygnus A, Taurus A, and Virgo A; collectively they are called the A-team. Their flux densities at ultra-low frequencies (< 100 MHz) can reach several thousands of janskys, and they often contaminate observations of the low-frequency sky by interfering with image processing. Furthermore, these sources are foreground objects for all-sky observations hampering the study of faint signals, such as the cosmological 21 cm line from the epoch of reionisation. Aims. We aim to produce robust models for the surface brightness emission as a function of frequency for the A-team sources at ultra-low frequencies. These models are needed for the calibration and imaging of wide-area surveys of the sky with low-frequency interferometers. This requires obtaining images at an angular resolution better than 15″ with a high dynamic range and good image fidelity. Methods. We observed the A-team with the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) at frequencies between 30 MHz and 77 MHz using the Low Band Antenna system. We reduced the datasets and obtained an image for each A-team source. Results. The paper presents the best models to date for the sources Cassiopeia A, Cygnus A, Taurus A, and Virgo A between 30 MHz and 77 MHz. We were able to obtain the aimed resolution and dynamic range in all cases. Owing to its compactness and complexity, observations with the long baselines of the International LOFAR Telescope will be required to improve the source model for Cygnus A further.
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| 17. |
- De Gasperin, F., et al.
(författare)
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M 87 at metre wavelengths: the LOFAR picture
- 2012
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 547, s. article no. 56-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. M87 is a giant elliptical galaxy located in the centre of the Virgo cluster, which harbours a supermassive black hole of mass 6.4x10(9) M-circle dot, whose activity is responsible for the extended (80 kpc) radio lobes that surround the galaxy. The energy generated by matter falling onto the central black hole is ejected and transferred to the intra-cluster medium via a relativistic jet and morphologically complex systems of buoyant bubbles, which rise towards the edges of the extended halo. Aims. To place constraints on past activity cycles of the active nucleus, images of M 87 were produced at low radio frequencies never explored before at these high spatial resolution and dynamic range. To disentangle different synchrotron models and place constraints on source magnetic field, age and energetics, we also performed a detailed spectral analysis of M 87 extended radio-halo. Methods. We present the first observations made with the new Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) of M 87 at frequencies down to 20 MHz. Three observations were conducted, at 15-30 MHz, 30-77 MHz and 116-162 MHz. We used these observations together with archival data to produce a low-frequency spectral index map and to perform a spectral analysis in the wide frequency range 30 MHz-10 GHz. Results. We do not find any sign of new extended emissions; on the contrary the source appears well confined by the high pressure of the intra-cluster medium. A continuous injection of relativistic electrons is the model that best fits our data, and provides a scenario in which the lobes are still supplied by fresh relativistic particles from the active galactic nuclei. We suggest that the discrepancy between the low-frequency radio-spectral slope in the core and in the halo implies a strong adiabatic expansion of the plasma as soon as it leaves the core area. The extended halo has an equipartition magnetic field strength of similar or equal to 10 mu G, which increases to similar or equal to 13 mu G in the zones where the particle flows are more active. The continuous injection model for synchrotron ageing provides an age for the halo of similar or equal to 40 Myr, which in turn provides a jet kinetic power of 6-10 x 10(44) erg s(-1).
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| 18. |
- Shimwell, T. W., et al.
(författare)
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The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey: V. Second data release
- 2022
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 659
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this data release from the ongoing LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) Two-metre Sky Survey we present 120a 168 MHz images covering 27% of the northern sky. Our coverage is split into two regions centred at approximately 12h45m +44 30a and 1h00m +28 00a and spanning 4178 and 1457 square degrees respectively. The images were derived from 3451 h (7.6 PB) of LOFAR High Band Antenna data which were corrected for the direction-independent instrumental properties as well as direction-dependent ionospheric distortions during extensive, but fully automated, data processing. A catalogue of 4 396 228 radio sources is derived from our total intensity (Stokes I) maps, where the majority of these have never been detected at radio wavelengths before. At 6a resolution, our full bandwidth Stokes I continuum maps with a central frequency of 144 MHz have: a median rms sensitivity of 83 μJy beama 1; a flux density scale accuracy of approximately 10%; an astrometric accuracy of 0.2a; and we estimate the point-source completeness to be 90% at a peak brightness of 0.8 mJy beama 1. By creating three 16 MHz bandwidth images across the band we are able to measure the in-band spectral index of many sources, albeit with an error on the derived spectral index of > a ±a 0.2 which is a consequence of our flux-density scale accuracy and small fractional bandwidth. Our circular polarisation (Stokes V) 20a resolution 120a168 MHz continuum images have a median rms sensitivity of 95 μJy beama 1, and we estimate a Stokes I to Stokes V leakage of 0.056%. Our linear polarisation (Stokes Q and Stokes U) image cubes consist of 480a A a 97.6 kHz wide planes and have a median rms sensitivity per plane of 10.8 mJy beama 1 at 4a and 2.2 mJy beama 1 at 20a; we estimate the Stokes I to Stokes Q/U leakage to be approximately 0.2%. Here we characterise and publicly release our Stokes I, Q, U and V images in addition to the calibrated uv-data to facilitate the thorough scientific exploitation of this unique dataset.
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| 19. |
- Vedantham, H. K., et al.
(författare)
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Lunar occultation of the diffuse radio sky : LOFAR measurements between 35 and 80 MHz
- 2015
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 450, s. 2291-2305
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present radio observations of the Moon between 35 and 80 MHz to demonstrate a novel technique of interferometrically measuring large-scale diffuse emission extending far beyond the primary beam (global signal) for the first time. In particular, we show that (i) the Moon appears as a negative-flux source at frequencies 35 < ν < 80 MHz since it is ‘colder’ than the diffuse Galactic background it occults, (ii) using the (negative) flux of the lunar disc, we can reconstruct the spectrum of the diffuse Galactic emission with the lunar thermal emission as a reference, and (iii) that reflected RFI (radio-frequency interference) is concentrated at the centre of the lunar disc due to specular nature of reflection, and can be independently measured. Our RFI measurements show that (i) Moon-based Cosmic Dawn experiments must design for an Earth-isolation of better than 80 dB to achieve an RFI temperature <1 mK, (ii) Moon-reflected RFI contributes to a dipole temperature less than 20 mK for Earth-based Cosmic Dawn experiments, (iii) man-made satellite-reflected RFI temperature exceeds 20 mK if the aggregate scattering cross-section of visible satellites exceeds 175 m2 at 800 km height, or 15 m2 at 400 km height. Currently, our diffuse background spectrum is limited by sidelobe confusion on short baselines (10–15 per cent level). Further refinement of our technique may yield constraints on the redshifted global 21 cm signal from Cosmic Dawn (40 > z > 12) and the Epoch of Reionization (12 > z > 5).
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| 20. |
- Nelles, A., et al.
(författare)
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Measuring a Cherenkov ring in the radio emission from air showers at 110-190 MHz with LOFAR
- 2015
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 65, s. 11-21
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Measuring radio emission from air showers offers a novel way to determine properties of the primary cosmic rays such as their mass and energy. Theory predicts that relativistic time compression effects lead to a ring of amplified emission which starts to dominate the emission pattern for frequencies above ∼100∼100 MHz. In this article we present the first detailed measurements of this structure. Ring structures in the radio emission of air showers are measured with the LOFAR radio telescope in the frequency range of 110–190 MHz. These data are well described by CoREAS simulations. They clearly confirm the importance of including the index of refraction of air as a function of height. Furthermore, the presence of the Cherenkov ring offers the possibility for a geometrical measurement of the depth of shower maximum, which in turn depends on the mass of the primary particle.
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| 21. |
- Shimwell, T. W., et al.
(författare)
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The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey: II. First data release
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 622
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) is an ongoing sensitive, high-resolution 120-168 MHz survey of the entire northern sky for which observations are now 20% complete. We present our first full-quality public data release. For this data release 424 square degrees, or 2% of the eventual coverage, in the region of the HETDEX Spring Field (right ascension 10h45m00s to 15h30m00s and declination 45°00′00″ to 57°00′00″) were mapped using a fully automated direction-dependent calibration and imaging pipeline that we developed. A total of 325 694 sources are detected with a signal of at least five times the noise, and the source density is a factor of ∼10 higher than the most sensitive existing very wide-area radio-continuum surveys. The median sensitivity is S144 MHz = 71 μJy beam -1 and the point-source completeness is 90% at an integrated flux density of 0.45 mJy. The resolution of the images is 6″ and the positional accuracy is within 0.2″. This data release consists of a catalogue containing location, flux, and shape estimates together with 58 mosaic images that cover the catalogued area. In this paper we provide an overview of the data release with a focus on the processing of the LOFAR data and the characteristics of the resulting images. In two accompanying papers we provide the radio source associations and deblending and, where possible, the optical identifications of the radio sources together with the photometric redshifts and properties of the host galaxies. These data release papers are published together with a further ∼20 articles that highlight the scientific potential of LoTSS.
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| 22. |
- Fallows, Richard A., et al.
(författare)
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A LOFAR observation of ionospheric scintillation from two simultaneous travelling ionospheric disturbances
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate. - : EDP Sciences. - 2115-7251. ; 10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents the results from one of the first observations of ionospheric scintillation taken using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR). The observation was of the strong natural radio source Cassiopeia A, taken overnight on 18-19 August 2013, and exhibited moderately strong scattering effects in dynamic spectra of intensity received across an observing bandwidth of 10-80 MHz. Delay-Doppler spectra (the 2-D FFT of the dynamic spectrum) from the first hour of observation showed two discrete parabolic arcs, one with a steep curvature and the other shallow, which can be used to provide estimates of the distance to, and velocity of, the scattering plasma. A cross-correlation analysis of data received by the dense array of stations in the LOFAR "core" reveals two different velocities in the scintillation pattern: a primary velocity of similar to 20-40 ms(-1) with a north-west to south-east direction, associated with the steep parabolic arc and a scattering altitude in the F-region or higher, and a secondary velocity of similar to 110 ms(-1) with a north-east to south-west direction, associated with the shallow arc and a scattering altitude in the D-region. Geomagnetic activity was low in the mid-latitudes at the time, but a weak sub-storm at high latitudes reached its peak at the start of the observation. An analysis of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and ionosonde data from the time reveals a larger-scale travelling ionospheric disturbance (TID), possibly the result of the high-latitude activity, travelling in the north-west to south-east direction, and, simultaneously, a smaller-scale TID travelling in a north-east to south-west direction, which could be associated with atmospheric gravity wave activity. The LOFAR observation shows scattering from both TIDs, at different altitudes and propagating in different directions. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that such a phenomenon has been reported.
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| 23. |
- Gehlot, B. K., et al.
(författare)
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The first power spectrum limit on the 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen during the Cosmic Dawn at z=20-25 from LOFAR
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 488:3, s. 4271-4287
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Observations of the redshifted 21-cm hyperfine line of neutral hydrogen from early phases of the Universe such as Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization promise to open a new window onto the early formation of stars and galaxies. We present the first upper limits on the power spectrum of redshifted 21-cm brightness temperature fluctuations in the redshift range z = 19.8-25.2 (54-68 MHz frequency range) using 14 h of data obtained with the LOFAR-Low Band Antenna (LBA) array. We also demonstrate the application of a multiple pointing calibration technique to calibrate the LOFAR-LBA dual-pointing observations centred on the North Celestial Pole and the radio galaxy 3C220.3, We observe an unexplained excess of similar to 30-50 per cent in Stokes / noise compared to Stokes V for the two observed fields, which decorrelates on greater than or similar to 12 s and might have a physical origin. We show that enforcing smoothness of gain errors along frequency direction during calibration reduces the additional variance in Stokes I compared Stokes V introduced by the calibration on sub-band level. After subtraction of smooth foregrounds, we achieve a 2 sigma upper limit on the 21-cm power spectrum of Delta(2)(21) < (14561 mK)(2) at k similar to 0.038 h cMpc(-1) and Delta(2)(21) < (14886 mK)(2) at k 0.038 h cMpc(-1) for the 3C220 and NCP fields respectively and both upper limits are consistent with each other. The upper limits for the two fields are still dominated by systematics on most k modes.
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| 24. |
- Mertens, F. G., et al.
(författare)
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Improved upper limits on the 21 cm signal power spectrum of neutral hydrogen at z approximate to 9.1 from LOFAR
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 493:2, s. 1662-1685
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new upper limit on the 21 cm signal power spectrum at a redshift of z approximate to 9.1 is presented, based on 141 h of data obtained with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR). The analysis includes significant improvements in spectrally smooth gain-calibration, Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) foreground mitigation and optimally weighted power spectrum inference. Previously seen 'excess power' due to spectral structure in the gain solutions has markedly reduced but some excess power still remains with a spectral correlation distinct from thermal noise. This excess has a spectral coherence scale of 0.25-0.45 MHz and is partially correlated between nights, especially in the foreground wedge region. The correlation is stronger between nights covering similar local sidereal times. A best 2-sigma upper limit of Delta(2)(21) < (73)(2) mK(2) at k = 0.075 h cMpc(-1) is found, an improvement by a factor approximate to 8 in power compared to the previously reported upper limit. The remaining excess power could be due to residual foreground emission from sources or diffuse emission far away from the phase centre, polarization leakage, chromatic calibration errors, ionosphere, or low-level radiofrequency interference. We discuss future improvements to the signal processing chain that can further reduce or even eliminate these causes of excess power.
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| 25. |
- Patil, A. H., et al.
(författare)
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Upper Limits on the 21cm Epoch of Reionization Power Spectrum from One Night with LOFAR
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 838:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the first limits on the Epoch of Reionization 21 cm H I power spectra, in the redshift range z = 7.910.6, using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) High-Band Antenna (HBA). In total, 13.0 hr of data were used from observations centered on the North Celestial Pole. After subtraction of the sky model and the noise bias, we detect a non-zero Delta(2)(I)=(56 +/- 13 mK)(2) (1-sigma) excess variance and a best 2-sigma upper limit of Delta(2)(21) < (79.6 mK)(2) at k = 0.053 h cMpc(-1) in the range z = 9.610.6. The excess variance decreases when optimizing the smoothness of the direction- and frequency-dependent gain calibration, and with increasing the completeness of the sky model. It is likely caused by (i) residual side-lobe noise on calibration baselines, (ii) leverage due to nonlinear effects, (iii) noise and ionosphere-induced gain errors, or a combination thereof. Further analyses of the excess variance will be discussed in forthcoming publications.
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| 26. |
- van Weeren, R. J., et al.
(författare)
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LOFAR Facet Calibration
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-4365 .- 0067-0049. ; 223:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- LOFAR, the Low-Frequency Array, is a powerful new radio telescope operating between 10 and 240 MHz. LOFAR allows detailed sensitive high-resolution studies of the low-frequency radio sky. At the same time LOFAR also provides excellent short baseline coverage to map diffuse extended emission. However, producing highquality deep images is challenging due to the presence of direction-dependent calibration errors, caused by imperfect knowledge of the station beam shapes and the ionosphere. Furthermore, the large data volume and presence of station clock errors present additional difficulties. In this paper we present a new calibration scheme, which we name facet calibration, to obtain deep high-resolution LOFAR High Band Antenna images using the Dutch part of the array. This scheme solves and corrects the direction-dependent errors in a number of facets that cover the observed field of view. Facet calibration provides close to thermal noise limited images for a typical 8 hr observing run at similar to 5. resolution, meeting the specifications of the LOFAR Tier-1 northern survey.
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| 27. |
- van Weeren, R. J., et al.
(författare)
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LOFAR, VLA, AND CHANDRA OBSERVATIONS OF THE TOOTHBRUSH GALAXY CLUSTER
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 818:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present deep LOFAR observations between 120 and 181 MHz of the "Toothbrush" (RX J0603.3+ 4214), a cluster that contains one of the brightest radio relic sources known. Our LOFAR observations exploit a new and novel calibration scheme to probe 10 times deeper than any previous study in this relatively unexplored part of the spectrum. The LOFAR observations, when combined with VLA, GMRT, and Chandra X-ray data, provide new information about the nature of cluster merger shocks and their role in re-accelerating relativistic particles. We derive a spectral index of alpha = -0.8 +/- 0.1 at the northern edge of the main radio relic, steepening toward the south to alpha approximate to-2. The spectral index of the radio halo is remarkably uniform (alpha = -1.16, with an intrinsic scatter of
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| 28. |
- Asad, K. M. B., et al.
(författare)
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Polarization leakage in epoch of reionization windows - I. Low Frequency Array observations of the 3C196 field
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 451:4, s. 3709-3727
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Detection of the 21-cm signal coming from the epoch of reionization (EoR) is challenging especially because, even after removing the foregrounds, the residual Stokes I maps contain leakage from polarized emission that can mimic the signal. Here, we discuss the instrumental polarization of Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) and present realistic simulations of the leakages between Stokes parameters. From the LOFAR observations of polarized emission in the 3C196 field, we have quantified the level of polarization leakage caused by the nominal model beam of LOFAR, and compared it with the EoR signal using power spectrum analysis. We found that at 134-166 MHz, within the central 4A degrees of the field the (Q, U) -> I leakage power is lower than the EoR signal at k < 0.3 Mpc(-1). The leakage was found to be localized around a Faraday depth of 0, and the rms of the leakage as a fraction of the rms of the polarized emission was shown to vary between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent, both of which could be utilized in the removal of leakage. Moreover, we could define an 'EoR window' in terms of the polarization leakage in the cylindrical power spectrum above the point spread function (PSF)-induced wedge and below k(ayen) similar to 0.5 Mpc(-1), and the window extended up to k(ayen) similar to 1 Mpc(-1) at all k(aSyen) when 70 per cent of the leakage had been removed. These LOFAR results show that even a modest polarimetric calibration over a field of view of a parts per thousand(2) 4A degrees in the future arrays like Square Kilometre Array will ensure that the polarization leakage remains well below the expected EoR signal at the scales of 0.02-1 Mpc(-1).
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| 29. |
- Jelić, V., et al.
(författare)
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Linear polarization structures in LOFAR observations of the interstellar medium in the 3C 196 field
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 583
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims: This study aims to characterize linear polarization structures in LOFAR observations of the interstellar medium (ISM) in the 3C 196 field, one of the primary fields of the LOFAR-Epoch of Reionization key science project.Methods: We have used the high band antennas (HBA) of LOFAR to image this region and rotation measure (RM) synthesis to unravel the distribution of polarized structures in Faraday depth.Results: The brightness temperature of the detected Galactic emission is 5-15 K in polarized intensity and covers the range from -3 to +8 rad m(-2) in Faraday depth. The most interesting morphological feature is a strikingly straight filament at a Faraday depth of +0.5 rad m(-2) running from north to south, right through the centre of the field and parallel to the Galactic plane. There is also an interesting system of linear depolarization canals conspicuous in an image showing the peaks of Faraday spectra. We used the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) at 350 MHz to image the same region. For the first time, we see some common morphology in the RM cubes made at 150 and 350 MHz. There is no indication of diffuse emission in total intensity in the interferometric data, in line with results at higher frequencies and previous LOFAR observations. Based on our results, we determined physical parameters of the ISM and proposed a simple model that may explain the observed distribution of the intervening magneto-ionic medium.Conclusions: The mean line-of-sight magnetic field component, B-parallel to, is determined to be 0.3 +/- 0.1 mu G and its spatial variation across the 3C 196 field is 0.1 mu G. The filamentary structure is probably an ionized filament in the ISM, located somewhere within the Local Bubble. This filamentary structure shows an excess in thermal electron density (n(e)B(parallel to) > 6.2 cm(-3) mu G) compared to its surroundings.
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| 30. |
- Gehlot, B. K., et al.
(författare)
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Degree-scale galactic radio emission at 122 MHz around the North Celestial Pole with LOFAR-AARTFAAC
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 662
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. Contamination from bright diffuse Galactic thermal and non-thermal radio emission poses crucial challenges in experiments aiming to measure the 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen from the cosmic dawn (CD) and Epoch of Reionisation (EoR). If not included in calibration, this diffuse emission can severely impact the analysis and signal extraction in 21-cm experiments. We examine large-scale diffuse Galactic emission at 122 MHz around the North Celestial Pole, using the Amsterdam-ASTRON Radio Transient Facility and Analysis Centre (AARTFAAC-) High Band Antenna (HBA) system.Methods. In this pilot project, we present the first-ever wide-field image produced with a single sub-band of the data recorded with the AARTFAAC-HBA system. We demonstrate two methods, multi-scale CLEAN and shapelet decomposition, to model the diffuse emission revealed in the image. We used angular power spectrum metrics to quantify different components of the emission and compared the performance of the two diffuse structure modelling approaches.Results. We observed that the point sources dominate the angular power spectrum (ℓ(ℓ + 1)Cℓ/2π≡Δ2(ℓ)) of the emission in the field on scales of ℓ ≳ 60 (≲3 degree). The angular power spectrum after subtraction of compact sources is flat within the 20 ≲ ℓ ≲ 200 range, suggesting that the residual power is dominated by the diffuse emission on scales of ℓ ≲ 200. The residual diffuse emission has a brightness temperature variance of Δℓ=1802 = (145.64 ± 13.61) K2 at 122 MHz on angular scales of 1 degree, and it is consistent with a power law following Cℓ ∝ ℓ−2.0 in the 20 ≲ ℓ ≲ 200 range. We also find that, in the current set-up, multi-scale CLEAN is suitable to model the compact and diffuse structures on a wide range of angular scales, whereas the shapelet decomposition method better models the large scales, which are of the order of a few degrees and wider.
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| 31. |
- Ghara, Raghunath, et al.
(författare)
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Constraining the intergalactic medium at z approximate to 9.1 using LOFAR Epoch of Reionization observations
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 493:4, s. 4728-4747
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We derive constraints on the thermal and ionization states of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at redshift approximate to 9.1 using new upper limits on the 21-cm power spectrum measured by the LOFAR radio telescope and a prior on the ionized fraction at that redshift estimated from recent cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations. We have used results from the reionization simulation code GRIZZLY and a Bayesian inference framework to constrain the parameters which describe the physical state of the IGM. We find that, if the gas heating remains negligible, an IGM with ionized fraction greater than or similar to 0.13 and a distribution of the ionized regions with a characteristic size greater than or similar to 8 h(-1) comoving megaparsec (Mpc) and a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) greater than or similar to 16 h(-1) Mpc is ruled out. For an IGM with a uniform spin temperature T-S greater than or similar to 3 K, no constraints on the ionized component can be computed. If the large-scale fluctuations of the signal are driven by spin temperature fluctuations, an IGM with a volume fraction less than or similar to 0.34 of heated regions with a temperature larger than CMB, average gas temperature 7-160 K, and a distribution of the heated regions with characteristic size 3.5-70 h(-1) Mpc and FWHM of less than or similar to 110 h(-1) Mpc is ruled out. These constraints are within the 95 per cent credible intervals. With more stringent future upper limits from LOFAR at multiple redshifts, the constraints will become tighter and will exclude an increasingly large region of the parameter space.
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| 32. |
- Šnidariać, Iva, et al.
(författare)
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LOFAR Deep Fields: Probing faint Galactic polarised emission in ELAIS-N1
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 674
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the first deep polarimetric study of Galactic synchrotron emission at low radio frequencies. Our study is based on 21 observations of the European Large Area Infrared Space Observatory Survey-North 1 (ELAIS-N1) field using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) at frequencies from 114.9 to 177.4 MHz. These data are a part of the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Deep Fields Data Release 1. We used very low-resolution (4.3') Stokes QU data cubes of this release. We applied rotation measure (RM) synthesis to decompose the distribution of polarised structures in Faraday depth, and cross-correlation RM synthesis to align different observations in Faraday depth. We stacked images of about 150 h of the ELAIS-N1 observations to produce the deepest Faraday cube at low radio frequencies to date, tailored to studies of Galactic synchrotron emission and the intervening magneto-ionic interstellar medium. This Faraday cube covers ∼36 deg2 of the sky and has a noise of 27 μJy PSF-1 RMSF-1 in polarised intensity. This is an improvement in noise by a factor of approximately the square root of the number of stacked data cubes (√20), as expected, compared to the one in a single data cube based on five-to-eight-hour observations. We detect a faint component of diffuse polarised emission in the stacked cube, which was not detected previously. Additionally, we verify the reliability of the ionospheric Faraday rotation corrections estimated from the satellite-based total electron content measurements to be of ∼0.05 Cyrillic small letter GHEad m-2. We also demonstrate that diffuse polarised emission itself can be used to account for the relative ionospheric Faraday rotation corrections with respect to a reference observation.
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| 33. |
- Corstanje, A., et al.
(författare)
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LOFAR : Detecting Cosmic Rays with a Radio Telescope
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the 32nd International Cosmic Ray Conference. - : International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). ; , s. 192-195
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- LOFAR (the Low Frequency Array), a distributed digital radio telescope with stations in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, is designed to enable full-sky monitoring of transient radio sources. These capabilities are ideal for the detection of broadband radio pulses generated in cosmic ray air showers. The core of LOFAR consists of 24 stations within 4 square kilometers, and each station contains 96 low-band antennas and 48 high-band antennas. This dense instrumentation will allow detailed studies of the lateral distribution of the radio signal in a frequency range of 10-250 MHz. Such studies are key to understanding the various radio emission mechanisms within the air shower, as well as for determining the potential of the radio technique for primary particle identification. We present the status of the LOFAR cosmic ray program, including the station design and hardware, the triggering and filtering schemes, and our initial observations of cosmic-ray-induced radio pulses.
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| 34. |
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| 35. |
- Mevius, M., et al.
(författare)
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A numerical study of 21-cm signal suppression and noise increase in direction-dependent calibration of LOFAR data
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 509:3, s. 3693-3702
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigate systematic effects in direction-dependent gain calibration in the context of the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) 21-cm Epoch of Reionization (EoR) experiment. The LOFAR EoR Key Science Project aims to detect the 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen on interferometric baselines of 50–250 λ. We show that suppression of faint signals can effectively be avoided by calibrating these short baselines using only the longer baselines. However, this approach causes an excess variance on the short baselines due to small gain errors induced by overfitting during calibration. We apply a regularized expectation–maximization algorithm with consensus optimization (SAGECAL-CO) to real data with simulated signals to show that overfitting can be largely mitigated by penalising spectrally non-smooth gain solutions during calibration. This reduces the excess power with about a factor of 4 in the simulations. Our results agree with earlier theoretical analysis of this bias-variance trade off and support the gain-calibration approach to the LOFAR 21-cm signal data.
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| 36. |
- Patil, Ajinkya H., et al.
(författare)
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Constraining the epoch of reionization with the variance statistic : simulations of the LOFAR case
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 443:2, s. 1113-1124
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several experiments are underway to detect the cosmic-redshifted 21-cm signal from neutral hydrogen from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). Due to their very low signal-to-noise ratio, these observations aim for a statistical detection of the signal by measuring its power spectrum. We investigate the extraction of the variance of the signal as a first step towards detecting and constraining the global history of the EoR. Signal variance is the integral of the signal's power spectrum, and it is expected to be measured with a high significance. We demonstrate this through results from a simulation and parameter estimation pipeline developed for the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR)-EoR experiment. We show that LOFAR should be able to detect the EoR in 600 h of integration using the variance statistic. Additionally, the redshift (z(r)) and duration (Delta z) of reionization can be constrained assuming a parametrization. We use an EoR simulation of z(r) = 7.68 and Delta(z) = 0.43 to test the pipeline. We are able to detect the simulated signal with a significance of four standard deviations and extract the EoR parameters as z(r) = 7.72(-0.18)(+0.37) and Delta z = 0.53(-0.23)(+0.12) in 600 h, assuming that systematic errors can be adequately controlled. We further show that the significance of detection and constraints on EoR parameters can be improved by measuring the cross-variance of the signal by cross-correlating consecutive redshift bins.
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| 37. |
- Thoudam, Satyendra, et al.
(författare)
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An air shower array for LOFAR : LORA
- 2011
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Ingår i: Astrophysics and Space Sciences Transactions (ASTRA). - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1810-6528 .- 1810-6536. ; 7, s. 195-199
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- LOFAR is a new form of radio telescope which can detect radio emission from air showers induced by very high-energy cosmic rays. It can also look for radio emission from particle cascades on the Moon induced by ultra high-energy cosmic rays or neutrinos. To complement the radio detection, we are setting up a small particle detector array LORA (LOfar Radboud Air shower array) within an area of ~300 m diameter in the LOFAR core. It will help in triggering and confirming the radio detection of air showers with the LOFAR antennas. In this paper, we present a short overview about LORA and discuss its current status.
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| 38. |
- Gan, H., et al.
(författare)
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Statistical analysis of the causes of excess variance in the 21 cm signal power spectra obtained with the Low-Frequency Array
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 663
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. The detection of the 21 cm signal of neutral hydrogen from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) is challenging due to bright foreground sources, radio frequency interference (RFI), and the ionosphere as well as instrumental effects. Even after correcting for these effects in the calibration step and applying foreground removal techniques, the remaining residuals in the observed 21 cm power spectra are still above the thermal noise, which is referred to as the “excess variance.”Aims. We study a number of potential causes of this excess variance based on 13 nights of data obtained with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR).Methods. We focused on the impact of gain errors, the sky model, and ionospheric effects on the excess variance by correlating the relevant parameters such as the gain variance over time or frequency, local sidereal time (LST), diffractive scale, and phase structure–function slope with the level of excess variance.Results. Our analysis shows that the excess variance, at the current level, is neither strongly correlated with gain variance nor the ionospheric parameters. Rather, excess variance has an LST dependence, which is related to the power from the sky. Furthermore, the simulated Stokes I power spectra from bright sources and the excess variance show a similar progression over LST with the minimum power appearing at LST bin 6h to 9h. This LST dependence is also present in sky images of the residual Stokes I of the observations. In very-wide sky images based on one night of observation after direction-dependent calibration, we demonstrate that the extra power comes exactly from the direction of bright and distant sources Cassiopeia A and Cygnus A with the array beam patterns.Conclusions. These results suggest that the level of excess variance in the 21 cm signal power spectra is related to sky effects and, hence, it depends on LST. In particular, very bright and distant sources such as Cassiopeia A and Cygnus A can dominate the effect. This is in line with earlier studies and offers a path forward toward a solution, since the correlation between the sky-related effects and the excess variance is non-negligible.
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