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21 cm Intensity Mapping: opportunities and challenges on the road to the SKA Observatory
Speaker
Marta Spinelli ETH Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland)
Abstract
Radio telescopes such as MeerKAT, and in the future the SKA Observatory, can map the spatial distribution of the post-reionization cosmic neutral hydrogen using Intensity Mapping techniques for the 21 cm line. These measurements can unveil the underlying large-scale structure of the Universe and contribute in a fundamental way to our understanding of structure growth. A key point is the subtraction of the bright foregrounds, orders of magnitude stronger than the 21cm signal. In this talk, I will describe the status of MeerKLASS, an Intensity Mapping survey with the MeerKAT telescope, and discuss the recent detection of the cross-correlation signal with the WiggleZ galaxy survey. Moreover, I will report the results of an effort, led by the SKA Intensity Mapping Focus Group, to construct a realistic mock data cube with an improved sky model and instrument characterization, and to assess through simulations the performance of foreground cleaning methods. I will discuss current limitations and the roadmap to the SKAO era.
Date and Time
March 23 2023 4pm KST (= 7am UTC) Zoom link (active once the seminar starts)