We report the first detections of the repeating fast radio burst source FRB 121102 above 5.2 GHz. Observations were performed using the 4−8 GHz receiver of the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope with the Breakthrough Listen digital backend. We present the spectral, temporal and polarization properties of 21 bursts detected within the first 60 minutes of a total 6-hour observations. These observations comprise the highest burst density yet reported in the literature, with 18 bursts being detected in the first 30 minutes. A few bursts clearly show temporal sub-structures with distinct spectral properties.These sub-structures superimpose to provide enhanced peak signal-to-noise ratio at higher trial dispersion measures. Broad features occur in ∼ 1 GHz wide subbands that typically differ in peak frequency between bursts within the band.Finer-scale structures (∼ 10 − 50 MHz) within these bursts are consistent with that expected from Galactic diffractive interstellar scintillation. The bursts exhibit nearly 100% linear polarization, and a large average rotation measure of 9.359±0.012 × 10 4 rad m −2 (in the observer's frame). No circular polarization was found for any burst. We measure an approximately constant polarization position angle in the 13 brightest bursts. The peak flux densities of the reported bursts have average values (0.2±0.1 Jy), similar to those seen at lower frequencies (< 3 GHz), while the average burst widths (0.64±0.46 ms) are relatively narrower.Subject headings:

The birth of the first luminous sources and the ensuing epoch of reionization are best studied via the redshifted 21-cm emission line, the signature of the first two imprinting the last. In this work we present a fully-Bayesian method, HIBAYES, for extracting the faint, global (sky-averaged) 21-cm signal from the much brighter foreground emission. We show that a simplified (but plausible), Gaussian model of the 21-cm emission from the Cosmic Dawn epoch (15 z 30), parameterized by an amplitude A HI , a frequency peak ν HI and a width σ HI , can be extracted even in the presence of a structured foreground frequency spectrum (parameterized as a 7 th -order polynomial), provided sufficient signal-to-noise (400 hours of observation with a single dipole). We apply our method to an early, 19-minute long observation from the Large aperture Experiment to detect the Dark Ages, constraining the 21-cm signal amplitude and width to be −890 < A HI < 0 mK and σ HI > 6.5 MHz (corresponding to ∆z > 1.9 at redshift z 20) respectively at the 95-per-cent confidence level in the range 13.2 < z < 27.4 (100 > ν > 50 MHz).

The Large-Aperture Experiment to Detect the Dark Age (LEDA) was designed to detect the predicted O(100) mK sky-averaged absorption of the Cosmic Microwave Background by Hydrogen in the neutral pre-and intergalactic medium just after the cosmological Dark Age. The spectral signature would be associated with emergence of a diffuse Lyα background from starlight during 'Cosmic Dawn'. Recently, Bowman et al. (2018) have reported detection of this predicted absorption feature, with an unexpectedly large amplitude of 530 mK, centered at 78 MHz. Verification of this result by an independent experiment, such as LEDA, is pressing. In this paper, we detail design and characterization of the LEDA radiometer systems, and a first-generation pipeline that instantiates a signal path model. Sited at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory Long Wavelength Array, LEDA systems include the station correlator, five well-separated redundant dual polarization radiometers and backend electronics. The radiometers deliver a 30-85 MHz band (16 < z < 34) and operate as part of the larger interferometric array, for purposes ultimately of in situ calibration. Here, we report on the LEDA system design, calibration approach, and progress in characterization as of January 2016. The LEDA systems are currently being modified to improve performance near 78 MHz in order to verify the purported absorption feature.