Extensive air showers triggered by cosmic particles produce radio emission, which is detected with radio telescopes. We propose to develop 4D imaging techniques for this radio emission that are expected to deliver more accurate information on individual showers than obtainable with classical analysis methods. We will leverage recent developments in signal reconstruction based on information field theory (IFT) to develop and apply high-resolution 4D (3D+time) imaging methods. These techniques will be tested and benchmarked on data from the LOFAR radio telescope, which is currently one of the leading instruments in air shower physics and the only one suitable for 4D imaging of air showers. In the near future, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will dramatically improve over LOFAR, so we will also ensure that our techniques can meet the data challenge posed by the abundance of data from SKA. SKA will be the ultimate instrument, promising to resolve unprecedented details of the shower development, and thereby advancing cosmic ray studies.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
International Connection
Belgium, Netherlands
