The beamformer and correlator for the Large European Array for Pulsars

R. Smits; C.G.  Bassa; G.H. Janssen; R. Karuppusamy; Michael Kramer; K.J. Lee; K. Liu; James Mckee; D. Perrodin; Mark Purver; S. Sanidas; Benjamin Stappers; W.W. Zhu

doi:10.1016/j.ascom.2017.02.002

The beamformer and correlator for the Large European Array for Pulsars

R. Smits, C.G. Bassa, G.H. Janssen, R. Karuppusamy, Michael Kramer, K.J. Lee, K. Liu, James Mckee, D. Perrodin, Mark Purver, S. Sanidas, Benjamin Stappers, W.W. Zhu

Jodrell Bank Centre for Engagement - Directors Office

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Abstract

The Large European Array for Pulsars combines Europe’s largest radio telescopes to form a tied-array telescope that provides high signal-to-noise observations of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) with the objective
to increase the sensitivity of detecting low-frequency gravitational waves. As part of this endeavor we have developed a software correlator and beamformer which enables the formation of a tied-array beam
from the raw voltages from each of telescopes. We explain the concepts and techniques involved in the process of adding the raw voltages coherently.We further present the software processing pipeline that is specifically designed to deal with data from widely spaced, inhomogeneous radio telescopes and describe the steps involved in preparing, correlating and creating the tied-array beam. This includes polarization calibration, bandpass correction, frequency dependent phase correction, interference mitigation and
pulsar gating. A link is provided where the software can be obtained.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	66–74
Journal	Astronomy and Computing
Volume	19
Early online date	1 Apr 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ascom.2017.02.002
Publication status	Published - 2017

Keywords

Gravitational waves
Techniques
interferometric
Pulsars
general

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title = "The beamformer and correlator for the Large European Array for Pulsars",

abstract = "The Large European Array for Pulsars combines Europe{\textquoteright}s largest radio telescopes to form a tied-array telescope that provides high signal-to-noise observations of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) with the objectiveto increase the sensitivity of detecting low-frequency gravitational waves. As part of this endeavor we have developed a software correlator and beamformer which enables the formation of a tied-array beamfrom the raw voltages from each of telescopes. We explain the concepts and techniques involved in the process of adding the raw voltages coherently.We further present the software processing pipeline that is specifically designed to deal with data from widely spaced, inhomogeneous radio telescopes and describe the steps involved in preparing, correlating and creating the tied-array beam. This includes polarization calibration, bandpass correction, frequency dependent phase correction, interference mitigation andpulsar gating. A link is provided where the software can be obtained.",

keywords = "Gravitational waves, Techniques, interferometric, Pulsars, general",

author = "R. Smits and C.G. Bassa and G.H. Janssen and R. Karuppusamy and Michael Kramer and K.J. Lee and K. Liu and James Mckee and D. Perrodin and Mark Purver and S. Sanidas and Benjamin Stappers and W.W. Zhu",

year = "2017",

doi = "10.1016/j.ascom.2017.02.002",

language = "English",

volume = "19",

pages = "66–74",

journal = "Astronomy and Computing",

publisher = "Elsevier BV",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - The beamformer and correlator for the Large European Array for Pulsars

AU - Smits, R.

AU - Bassa, C.G.

AU - Janssen, G.H.

AU - Karuppusamy, R.

AU - Kramer, Michael

AU - Lee, K.J.

AU - Liu, K.

AU - Mckee, James

AU - Perrodin, D.

AU - Purver, Mark

AU - Sanidas, S.

AU - Stappers, Benjamin

AU - Zhu, W.W.

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - The Large European Array for Pulsars combines Europe’s largest radio telescopes to form a tied-array telescope that provides high signal-to-noise observations of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) with the objectiveto increase the sensitivity of detecting low-frequency gravitational waves. As part of this endeavor we have developed a software correlator and beamformer which enables the formation of a tied-array beamfrom the raw voltages from each of telescopes. We explain the concepts and techniques involved in the process of adding the raw voltages coherently.We further present the software processing pipeline that is specifically designed to deal with data from widely spaced, inhomogeneous radio telescopes and describe the steps involved in preparing, correlating and creating the tied-array beam. This includes polarization calibration, bandpass correction, frequency dependent phase correction, interference mitigation andpulsar gating. A link is provided where the software can be obtained.

AB - The Large European Array for Pulsars combines Europe’s largest radio telescopes to form a tied-array telescope that provides high signal-to-noise observations of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) with the objectiveto increase the sensitivity of detecting low-frequency gravitational waves. As part of this endeavor we have developed a software correlator and beamformer which enables the formation of a tied-array beamfrom the raw voltages from each of telescopes. We explain the concepts and techniques involved in the process of adding the raw voltages coherently.We further present the software processing pipeline that is specifically designed to deal with data from widely spaced, inhomogeneous radio telescopes and describe the steps involved in preparing, correlating and creating the tied-array beam. This includes polarization calibration, bandpass correction, frequency dependent phase correction, interference mitigation andpulsar gating. A link is provided where the software can be obtained.

KW - Gravitational waves

KW - Techniques

KW - interferometric

KW - Pulsars

KW - general

U2 - 10.1016/j.ascom.2017.02.002

DO - 10.1016/j.ascom.2017.02.002

M3 - Article

VL - 19

SP - 66

EP - 74

JO - Astronomy and Computing

JF - Astronomy and Computing

ER -

The beamformer and correlator for the Large European Array for Pulsars

Abstract

Keywords

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