An analytical method to simulate the H i 21-cm visibility signal for intensity mapping experiments. Issue 1 (11th September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sarkar, Anjan Kumar; Bharadwaj, Somnath; Marthi, Visweshwar Ram
• Is Part Of: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Volume 473:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 261
• Page End: 270
• Publication Date: 2017-09-11
• Subjects: methods: statistical – diffuse radiation -- large scale structure of universe; Astronomy -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 520.5
• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stx2344
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0035-8711

Abstract

Abstract: Simulations play a vital role in testing and validating H i 21-cm power spectrum estimation techniques. Conventional methods use techniques like N -body simulations to simulate the sky signal which is then passed through a model of the instrument. This makes it necessary to simulate the H i distribution in a large cosmological volume, and incorporate both the light-cone effect and the telescope's chromatic response. The computational requirements may be particularly large if one wishes to simulate many realizations of the signal. In this paper, we present an analytical method to simulate the H i visibility signal. This is particularly efficient if one wishes to simulate a large number of realizations of the signal. Our method is based on theoretical predictions of the visibility correlation which incorporate both the light-cone effect and the telescope's chromatic response. We have demonstrated this method by applying it to simulate the H i visibility signal for the upcoming Ooty Wide Field Array Phase I.