Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 153-156).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Kentucky, 2003. / Title from document title page (viewed onJune 1, 2004). Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 106 leaves : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-104).

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-79).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Kentucky, College of Arts and Sciences, 2003. / Each library has both a paper copy and a CD-ROM version. Includes bibliographical references.

The Epoch of Reionization (EoR) is the transitional period in the universe's evolution which starts when the first luminous sources begin to ionize the intergalactic medium for the first time since recombination, and ends when the most of the hydrogen is ionized by about a redshift of 6. Observations of the 21cm emission from hyperfine splitting of the hydrogen atom can carry a wealth of cosmological information from this epoch since the redshifted line can probe the entire volume. The GMRT-EoR experiment is an ongoing effort to make a statistical detection of the power spectrum of 21cm neutral hydrogen emission due to the patchwork of neutral and ionized regions present during the transition. In this work we detail approximately five years of observations at the GMRT, comprising over 900 hours, and an in-depth analysis of about 50 hours which have lead to the first upper limits on the 21cm power spectrum in the range z=8.1 to 9.2. This includes a concentrated radio frequency interference (RFI) mitigation campaign around the GMRT area, a novel method for removing broadband RFI with a singular value decomposition, and calibration with a pulsar as both a phase and polarization calibrator. Preliminary results from 2011 showed a 2-sigma upper limit to the power spectrum of (70 mK)^2. However, we find that foreground removal strategies tend to reduce the cosmological signal significantly, and modeling this signal loss is crucial for interpretation of power spectrum measurements. Using a simulated signal to estimate the transfer function of the real 21cm signal through the foreground removal procedure, we are able to find the optimal level of foreground removal and correct for the signal loss. Using this correction, we report a 2-sigma upper limit of (248 mK)^2 at k=0.5 h/Mpc.

The Epoch of Reionization (EoR) is the transitional period in the universe's evolution which starts when the first luminous sources begin to ionize the intergalactic medium for the first time since recombination, and ends when the most of the hydrogen is ionized by about a redshift of 6. Observations of the 21cm emission from hyperfine splitting of the hydrogen atom can carry a wealth of cosmological information from this epoch since the redshifted line can probe the entire volume. The GMRT-EoR experiment is an ongoing effort to make a statistical detection of the power spectrum of 21cm neutral hydrogen emission due to the patchwork of neutral and ionized regions present during the transition. In this work we detail approximately five years of observations at the GMRT, comprising over 900 hours, and an in-depth analysis of about 50 hours which have lead to the first upper limits on the 21cm power spectrum in the range z=8.1 to 9.2. This includes a concentrated radio frequency interference (RFI) mitigation campaign around the GMRT area, a novel method for removing broadband RFI with a singular value decomposition, and calibration with a pulsar as both a phase and polarization calibrator. Preliminary results from 2011 showed a 2-sigma upper limit to the power spectrum of (70 mK)^2. However, we find that foreground removal strategies tend to reduce the cosmological signal significantly, and modeling this signal loss is crucial for interpretation of power spectrum measurements. Using a simulated signal to estimate the transfer function of the real 21cm signal through the foreground removal procedure, we are able to find the optimal level of foreground removal and correct for the signal loss. Using this correction, we report a 2-sigma upper limit of (248 mK)^2 at k=0.5 h/Mpc.

No description available.

No description available.

The Magellanic Clouds have long provided a rich celestial laboratory for many astrophysical research programmes. Their location relatively close to the Earth and away from the plane of our Galaxy has made them a natural target for Southern Hemisphere ground-based instrumentation. Likewise, the continuing quest for images of the Clouds with higher dynamic range and improved angular resolution has driven a continual improvement in instrumentation across a range of wavelength bands. The cornerstone of this thesis is a study of selected sources in the Magellanic Clouds. The sample was chosen from the 843MHz Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope survey of the Clouds, based on the existing knowledge of each source, its flux density and angular extent. This sample was used to explore observational and analysis techniques with the Australia Telescope Compact Array in order to better determine the nature of these objects and to identify those sources worthy of further study. This work highlights many pertinent issues associated with the correct classification of sources when only a limited amount of data is available. These issues led directly to the development of a more systematic approach in the classification of the Large Magellanic Cloud source sample, detailed for the first time in this thesis. Two supernova remnants in the Small Magellanic Cloud were studied in detail. The Australia Telescope images of 1E0102.2-7219 revealed, for the first time, the radio structure of this young oxygen-rich supernova remnant, and allowed a detailed comparison with existing optical and X-ray data to be undertaken. The comparisons presented in this thesis and in an earlier publication have prompted exciting new X-ray observations at unprecedented angular resolution. The second, 0101-7226, studied as part of an international collaboration, has a shell morphology at radio wavelengths but no associated X-ray emission and is therefore something of an enigma.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-80).