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dc.contributor.authorTrott, Cathryn
dc.contributor.authorTingay, Steven
dc.contributor.authorWayth, Randall
dc.date.accessioned2017-01-30T12:47:50Z
dc.date.available2017-01-30T12:47:50Z
dc.date.created2013-11-05T20:00:33Z
dc.date.issued2013
dc.identifier.citationTrott, Cathryn M. and Tingay, Steven J. and Wayth, Randall B. 2013. Prospects for the detection of fast radio bursts with the Murchison Widefield Array. The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 776 (1): pp. 1-6.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/25316
dc.identifier.doi10.1088/2041-8205/776/1/L16
dc.description.abstract

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are short timescale («1 s) astrophysical radio signals, presumed to be a signature of cataclysmic events of extragalactic origin. The discovery of six high-redshift events at ~1400 MHz from the Parkes radio telescope suggests that FRBs may occur at a high rate across the sky. The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) operates at low radio frequencies (80-300 MHz) and is expected to detect FRBs due to its large collecting area (~2500 m2) and wide field-of-view (FOV, ~ 1000 deg2 at v = 200 MHz). We compute the expected number of FRB detections for the MWA assuming a source population consistent with the reported detections. Our formalism properly accounts for the frequency-dependence of the antenna primary beam, the MWA system temperature, and unknown spectral index of the source population, for three modes of FRB detection: coherent; incoherent; and fast imaging. We find that the MWA's sensitivity and large FOV combine to provide the expectation of multiple detectable events per week in all modes, potentially making it an excellent high time resolution science instrument. Deviations of the expected number of detections from actual results will provide a strong constraint on the assumptions made for the underlying source population and intervening plasma distribution.

dc.publisherInstitute of Physics Publishing
dc.subjectradio continuum: general
dc.subjectmethods: observational
dc.subjectsurveys
dc.subjectmethods: data analysis
dc.subjectinstrumentation: detectors
dc.titleProspects for the detection of fast radio bursts with the Murchison Widefield Array
dc.typeJournal Article
dcterms.source.volume776
dcterms.source.number1
dcterms.source.startPageL16
dcterms.source.endPageL16
dcterms.source.issn2041-8205
dcterms.source.titleAstrophysical Journal Letters
curtin.note

Copyright © 2013. The American Astronomical Society

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curtin.accessStatusOpen access


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