Understanding the HERA Phase I receiver system with simulations and its impact on the detectability of the EoR delay power spectrum. (arXiv:1908.02383v2 [astro-ph.IM] UPDATED)

Understanding the HERA Phase I receiver system with simulations and its impact on the detectability of the EoR delay power spectrum. (arXiv:1908.02383v2 [astro-ph.IM] UPDATED)
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Fagnoni_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">Nicolas Fagnoni</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Acedo_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Eloy de Lera Acedo</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+DeBoer_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">David R. DeBoer</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Abdurashidova_Z/0/1/0/all/0/1">Zara Abdurashidova</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Aguirre_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">James E. Aguirre</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Alexander_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">Paul Alexander</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Ali_Z/0/1/0/all/0/1">Zaki S. Ali</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Balfour_Y/0/1/0/all/0/1">Yanga Balfour</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Beardsley_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Adam P. Beardsley</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bernardi_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">Gianni Bernardi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Billings_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Tashalee S. Billings</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bowman_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Judd D. Bowman</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bradley_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Richard F. Bradley</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bull_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">Phil Bull</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Burba_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jacob Burba</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Carilli_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Chris L. Carilli</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Cheng_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Carina Cheng</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Dexter_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Matt Dexter</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Dillon_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Joshua S. Dillon</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Ewall_Wice_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Aaron Ewall-Wice</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Fritz_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Randall Fritz</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Furlanetto_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Steve R. Furlanetto</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gale_Sides_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kingsley Gale-Sides</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Glendenning_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">Brian Glendenning</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gorthi_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Deepthi Gorthi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Greig_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">Bradley Greig</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Grobbelaar_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jasper Grobbelaar</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Halday_Z/0/1/0/all/0/1">Ziyaad Halday</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hazelton_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">Bryna J. Hazelton</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hewitt_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jacqueline N. Hewitt</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hickish_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jack Hickish</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Jacobs_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Daniel C. Jacobs</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Josaitis_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Alec Josaitis</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Julius_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Austin Julius</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kern_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">Nicholas S. Kern</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kerrigan_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Joshua Kerrigan</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kim_H/0/1/0/all/0/1">Honggeun Kim</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kittiwisit_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">Piyanat Kittiwisit</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kohn_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Saul A. Kohn</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kolopanis_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Matthew Kolopanis</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Lanman_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Adam Lanman</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Plante_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">Paul La Plante</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Lekalake_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Telalo Lekalake</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Liu_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Adrian Liu</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+MacMahon_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">David MacMahon</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Malan_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Lourence Malan</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Malgas_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Cresshim Malgas</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Maree_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Matthys Maree</a>, et al. (22 additional authors not shown)

The detection of the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) delay power spectrum using a
“foreground avoidance method” highly depends on the instrument chromaticity.
The systematic effects induced by the radio-telescope spread the foreground
signal in the delay domain, which contaminates the EoR window theoretically
observable. Applied to the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA), this
paper combines detailed electromagnetic and electrical simulations in order to
model the chromatic effects of the instrument, and quantify its frequency and
time responses. In particular, the effects of the analogue receiver,
transmission cables, and mutual coupling are included. These simulations are
able to accurately predict the intensity of the reflections occurring in the
150-m cable which links the antenna to the back-end. They also show that
electromagnetic waves can propagate from one dish to another one through large
sections of the array due to mutual coupling. The simulated system time
response is attenuated by a factor $10^{4}$ after a characteristic delay which
depends on the size of the array and on the antenna position. Ultimately, the
system response is attenuated by a factor $10^{5}$ after 1400 ns because of the
reflections in the cable, which corresponds to characterizable
${k_parallel}$-modes above 0.7 $h;rm{Mpc}^{-1}$ at 150 MHz. Thus, this new
study shows that the detection of the EoR signal with HERA Phase I will be more
challenging than expected. On the other hand, it improves our understanding of
the telescope, which is essential to mitigate the instrument chromaticity.

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