Speaker
Description
The redshifted 21-cm signal from Cosmic Dawn (CD) and the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) is challenging to observe due to a variety of systematic effects that radio interferometers must contend with. The modulated foreground, which is notoriously difficult to model; substantial gaps caused by the excision of regions necessary due to radio frequency interference (RFI); and artifacts resulting from instrumental systematics all compromise the observable of interest. In this work, we present a novel method of recovering data buried under instrumental systematics, primarily cable reflections and mutual coupling. We use a Bayesian statistical method that couples the techniques of Gaussian constrained realizations (GCR) and Gibbs sampling to overcome uncertain foreground models, gappy data after RFI excision, and to subsequently estimate the EoR delay power-spectrum. We demonstrate the application of this technique on simulated data that mimic the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA).
