MWA Project Meeting - 2026

Pulsar and Fast transient science in the MWA VCS era

Not scheduled

20m

Main sessions: Room 190, Break-out sessions: Room 125 (Engineering Research Center, Brown University)

Presentation Pulsars and Fast Transients

Speaker

Dr Chia Min Tan

Description

Over the past decade, the voltage capture system (VCS) has been an integral part of much of the pulsar and fast transient science with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). While the use of VCS posed substantial challenges in large scale data management and the inevitable bespoke software development, its capability to provide high-time resolution data over a large field of view has enabled a range of new science in the areas of pulsars, FRBs, cosmic-ray detections and passive radar applications, culminating with the Southern MWA Rapid Two-metre (SMART) pulsar survey, an ambitious project to observe the whole Southern Sky at low frequencies and high time resolutions for pulsars and fast transients. VCS has also provided excellent opportunities for several students and ECRs to develop both their scientific and technical skills. With the commissioning of the real-time beamformer as part of MWA phase III upgrade, future pulsar and fast transient science will shift away from VCS, marking the end of an era. Here, I will review the various science projects that are enabled by the VCS, with a special emphasis on our flagship SMART pulsar survey, as the MWA moves into a new phase.