SKA Science Assessment Workshop - Pulsars

Europe/London
Steve Rawlings Boardroom (SKA Office)

Steve Rawlings Boardroom

SKA Office

Description
A science assessment workshop focused on the SKA1 Baseline Design and its ability to conduct science observations relevant to Pulsar Surveys and Timing was hosted by the SKA Office on 2013 July 17–18.
Link to workshop videos
Working group summary
Workshop Agenda
  • Wednesday, 17 July
    • 09:00 10:30
      Welcome and Introduction

      Ben Stappers & Robert Braun Introduction/Purpose/Welcome/

      Introductions
      Dewdney - General Introduction to the Baseline design and Motivation
      Turner - Detailed non-imaging processing numbers and motivation/choices

      Presentations
    • 11:00 12:30
      Pulsar Science, the SKA and the DRM

      Kramer - From the Science to the DRM
      Lazio and Huynh - SKA Phase 1 Design Reference Mission

      Presentations
    • 13:30 16:30
      SKA LOW Sessions

      To be discussed:
      a) Simulations of survey returns.
      b) What frequency would be optimal for us?
      c) Is it sufficiently centrally concentrated?
      d) How many beams for searching?
      e) What about Timing and other pulsar studies?
      f) How many beams for timing?
      g) What fraction of the sky do we need/want to be able to see?

    • 16:30 17:30
      SKA Survey Sessions

      To be discussed:
      a) how might we use it?
      b) discussion of continuum follow up observing model (Johnston with input from Hobbs/Cordes and others)

    • 09:00 12:30
      SKA Mid - Astrometry and Searching

      SKA Mid - Astrometry - (Deller)

      SKA Mid Searching
      a) What modifications to layout?
      b) Frequencies and bandwidths?
      c) How many frequency channels?
      d) Dedispersion?
      e) Acceleration Searches? how? Time or Frequency domain/best?
      f) single pulse detection strategies
      g) Real-time searching, including candidate identification.
      h) Sky visibility (i.e. max hour angle).

    • 13:30 15:00
      SKA Mid Timing

      a) How many beams required?
      b) Frequencies and bandwidths?
      c) Polarisation calibration requirements?
      d) How many dishes to include in phasing up?
      e) Real-time phasing not currently specified, pressure on resources
      to have correlation and beam-forming in parallel.
      f) Real-time cyclic spectroscopy

    • 15:30 16:30
      Overall System requirements - Archiving, Data Products, Clocks
      Presentations
    • 16:30 17:30
      Summary, wrap up, planning on baseline change requests