Electromagnetically Isolated Global Signal Estimation Platform
Dominic Vazquez
Department of Physics & Astronomy
Faculty Supervisor: Charli Sakari
The Electromagnetically Isolated Global Signal Estimation Platform (EIGSEP) is an experiment that attempts to observe some of the earliest periods of the Universe’s history. Using a combination of the Cosmic Microwave Background, light that was released when the Universe was about 300,000 years old, light emitted from hydrogen known as the 21-cm line, and a novel radio telescope, one of the Universe’s least observed period, the “Dark Ages,” can be probed. Observations of the Dark Ages can tell us when some of the first stars formed, the thermal history of the Intergalactic Medium, and put constraints on the era of Reionization, a period where stars became commonplace and illuminated the Universe. While observations of the Dark Ages are highly sought after, there are many difficulties impeding it, such as separating the 21-cm line from the sky and contributions from the ground, calibrating the measuring instrument to the degree necessary, and avoiding contamination from surrounding inter- ference. EIGSEP attempts to overcome some of these obstacles by suspending our instrument in a remote canyon to remove influences from the ground out of our measurements and utilizing rotations and ground transmitters for a novel method of calibration, known as beam mapping.