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DOE OSTI · 1827159

The Baryon Mapping Experiment (BMX), a 21cm intensity mapping pathfinder

Abstract

The Baryon Mapping eXperiment (BMX) is an interferometric array designed as a pathfinder for a future post- reionization 21 cm intensity mapping survey. It consists of four 4-meter parabolic reflectors each having offset pyramidal horn feed, quad-ridge orthomode transducer, temperature-stabilized RF amplification and filtering, and pulsed noise injection diode. An undersampling readout scheme uses 8-bit digitizers running at 1.1 Gsamples/sec to provide access to signals from 1.1 - 1.55 GHz (third Nyquist zone), corresponding to HI emission from sources at redshift 0 < z < 0.3. An FX correlator is implemented in GPU and generates 28 GB/day of time-ordered visibility data. About 7,000 hours of data were collected from Jan. 2019 - May 2020, and we will present results on system performance including sensitivity, beam mapping studies, observations of bright celestial targets, and system electronics upgrades. BMX is a pathfinder for the proposed PUMA intensity mapping survey in the 2030s.

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BibTeXRIS

O'Connor, Paul, Slosar, A, Harris, M, Haupt, J, Kuczewski, J, Kuhn, E, Newburgh, L, Polish, A, Saliwanchik, B, Sheehy, C, Stankus, P, Troiani, G, Tyndall, W. 2020-12-14. The Baryon Mapping Experiment (BMX), a 21cm intensity mapping pathfinder. https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1827159

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