Project area/S
- Extragalactic Radio Science / Fast Transients and Pulsars
Project Details
Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are short intense radio transients of unknown origin. Although the progenitors of FRBs are not yet clearly understood, from radio interferometric observations they are found to reside in external galaxies. The next phase of the CRAFT survey with the ASKAP telescope is expected to significantly increase the number of accurate localisations of FRBs to their host galaxies. During propagation through an ionised medium, radio signals get modified, and hence carry information about certain properties of the medium. As the FRB signals travel through the interstellar medium (ISM) of their host galaxies, they are affected by the ionised phase of their ISM. The high time resolution (HTR) properties of the FRB signals are hence expected to contain information about the ISM of their host galaxies. This project will be focused on investigating possible correlations between HTR properties (such as temporal width, scatter broadening, Faraday rotation measure etc.) of ASKAP-localised FRBs with their host galaxy properties using statistical analysis. The science goal of this project is to understand the effects of propagation through the host galaxies on the FRB signals, and to explore the possibility of using the FRB signals to probe the ISM condition in their host galaxies.
Student Attributes
Academic Background
Preferably astronomy/physics background
Computing Skills
Experience with Unix or linux, python or C
Training Requirement
Project Timeline
- Week 1 Inductions and project introduction
- Week 2 Background reading and Initial Presentation
- Week 3 Understanding statistical methods
- Week 4 Working with statistical tools in Python
- Week 5 Implementation in a Python/C based programme
- Week 6 Statistical analysis on ASAKP detected FRBs
- Week 7 Statistical analysis on ASAKP detected FRBs
- Week 8 Interpretation of results
- Week 9 Final Presentation
- Week 10 Final Report
The host galaxies of ASKAP detected Fast Radio Bursts. The ellipses represent the locations of the FRB progenitors as measured from the ASKAP data.
