A host of new low-frequency radio telescopes seek to measure the 21-cm transition of neutral hydrogen from the early universe. These telescopes have the potential to directly probe star and galaxy formation at redshifts 20 z 7, but are limited by the dynamic range they can achieve against foreground sources of low-frequency radio emission. Consequently, there is a growing demand for modern, high-fidelity maps of the sky at frequencies below 200 MHz for use in foreground modeling and removal. We describe a new widefield imaging technique for drift-scanning interferometers, Tikhonov-regularized m-mode analysis imaging. This technique constructs images of the entire sky in a single synthesis imaging step with exact treatment of widefield effects. We describe how the CLEAN algorithm can be adapted to deconvolve maps generated by m-mode analysis imaging. We demonstrate Tikhonov-regularized m-mode analysis imaging using the Owens Valley Long Wavelength Array (OVRO-LWA) by generating 8 new maps of the sky north of δ = −30 • with 15 arcmin angular resolution, at frequencies evenly spaced between 36.528 MHz and 73.152 MHz, and ∼800 mJy/beam thermal noise. These maps are a 10-fold improvement in angular resolution over existing full-sky maps at comparable frequencies, which have angular resolutions ≥ 2 • . Each map is constructed exclusively from interferometric observations and does not represent the globally averaged sky brightness. Future improvements will incorporate total power radiometry, improved thermal noise, and improved angular resolution -due to the planned expansion of the OVRO-LWA to 2.6 km baselines. These maps serve as a first step on the path to the use of more sophisticated foreground filters in 21-cm cosmology incorporating the measured angular and frequency structure of all foreground contaminants.

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.

The 21 cm transition of neutral hydrogen is opening an observational window into the cosmic dawn of the universe-the epoch of first star formation. We use 28 hr of data from the Owens Valley Radio Observatory Long Wavelength Array (OVRO-LWA) to place upper limits on the spatial power spectrum of 21 cm emission at z ≈ 18.4 (∆ 21 10 4 mK), and within the absorption feature reported by the EDGES experiment (Bowman et al. 2018). In the process we demonstrate the first application of the double Karhunen-Loève transform for foreground filtering, and diagnose the systematic errors that are currently limiting the measurement. We also provide an updated model for the angular power spectrum of low-frequency foreground emission measured from the northern hemisphere, which can be used to refine sensitivity forecasts for next-generation experiments.

We present the discovery of a nuclear transient with the Caltech-NRAO Stripe 82 Survey (CNSS), a dedicated radio transient survey carried out with the Karl G.Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). This transient, CNSS J001947.3+003527, exhibited a turn-on over a timescale of 1 yr, increasing in flux density at 3 GHz from <0.14 mJy in 2014 February to 4.4±0.1 mJy in 2015 March, reaching a peak luminosity of-5 10 erg s Hz 28 1 1 around 2015 October. The association of CNSS J0019+00 with the nucleus (Gaia and our very-long baseline interferometry positions are consistent to within 1 pc) of a nearby S0 Seyfert galaxy at 77 Mpc, together with the radio spectral evolution, implies that this transient is most likely a tidal disruption event (TDE). Our equipartition analysis indicates the presence of a ∼15,000 km s −1 outflow, having energy ∼10 49 erg. We derive the radial density profile for the circumnuclear material in the host galaxy to be proportional to R −2.5. All of these properties suggest resemblance with radio-detected thermal TDEs like ASASSN-14li and XMMSL1 J0740-85. No significant X-ray or optical emission is detected from CNSS J0019+00, although this may simply be due to the thermal emission being weak during our late-time follow-up observations. From the CNSS survey we have obtained the first unbiased measurement of the rate of radio TDEs, R(>500μJy) of about 2×10 −3 deg −2 , or equivalently a volumetric rate of about 10 Gpc −3 yr −1. This rate implies that all-sky radio surveys such as the VLA Sky Survey and those planned with ASKAP, will find many tens of radio TDEs over the next few years.

We have conducted the most sensitive low-frequency (below 100 MHz) search to date for prompt, low-frequency radio emission associated with short-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), using the Owens Valley Radio Observatory Long Wavelength Array (OVRO-LWA). The OVRO-LWA's nearly full-hemisphere field of view (∼20,000 square degrees) allows us to search for low-frequency (sub-100 MHz) counterparts for a large sample of the subset of GRB events for which prompt radio emission has been predicted. Following the detection of short GRB 170112A by Swift, we used all-sky OVRO-LWA images spanning one hour prior to and two hours following the GRB event to search for a transient source coincident with the position of GRB 170112A. We detect no transient source to within a 3σ flux density limit of 4.5Jy at 13 s timescales for frequencies spanning 27-84MHz. We place constraints on a number of models predicting prompt, low-frequency radio emission accompanying short GRBs and their potential binary neutron star merger progenitors, and place an upper limit of L radio / L γ 3.5×10−6 on the fraction of energy released in the prompt radio emission, under the assumptions of negligible scattering of the radio pulse and beaming of emission along the line of sight. These observations serve as a pilot effort for a program targeting a wider sample of both short and long GRBs with the OVRO-LWA, including bursts with confirmed redshift measurements that are critical to placing constraining limits on prompt radio emission models, as well as a program for the follow-up of gravitational wave compact binary coalescence events detected by advanced LIGO and Virgo.