COMAP Early Science: II. Pathfinder Instrument
Abstract
Line intensity mapping (LIM) is a new technique for tracing the global properties of galaxies over cosmic time. Detection of the very faint signals from redshifted carbon monoxide (CO), a tracer of star formation, pushes the limits of what is feasible with a total-power instrument. The CO Mapping Project (COMAP) Pathfinder is a first-generation instrument aiming to prove the concept and develop the technology for future experiments, as well as delivering early science products. With 19 receiver channels in a hexagonal focal plane arrangement on a 10.4 m antenna, and an instantaneous 26-34 GHz frequency range with 2 MHz resolution, it is ideally suited to measuring CO(=1-0) from . In this paper we discuss strategies for designing and building the Pathfinder and the challenges that were encountered. The design of the instrument prioritized LIM requirements over those of ancillary science. After a couple of years of operation, the instrument is well understood, and the first year of data is already yielding useful science results. Experience with this Pathfinder will drive the design of the next generations of experiments.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2111.05928,
title = {COMAP Early Science: II. Pathfinder Instrument},
author = {James W. Lamb and Kieran A. Cleary and David P. Woody and Morgan Catha and Dongwoo T. Chung and Joshua Ott Gundersen and Stuart E. Harper and Andrew I. Harris and Richard Hobbs and Håvard T. Ihle and Jonathon Kocz and Timothy J. Pearson and Liju Philip and Travis W. Powell and Lilian Basoalto and J. Richard Bond and Jowita Borowska and Patrick C. Breysse and Sarah E. Church and Clive Dickinson and Delaney A. Dunne and Hans Kristian Eriksen and Marie Kristine Foss and Todd Gaier and Junhan Kim and Charles R. Lawrence and Jonas G. S. Lunde and Hamsa Padmanabhan and Maren Rasmussen and Anthony C. S. Readhead and Rodrigo Reeves and Thomas J. Rennie and Nils-Ole Stutzer and Duncan J. Watts and Ingunn Kathrine Wehus},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2111.05928},
year = {2022}
}
Comments
Paper 2 of 7 in series. 27 pages, 28 figures, submitted to ApJ