Foreman: Stochasticity in the large-scale distribution of neutral hydrogen / Pandhi: Polarization properties of fast radio bursts as a probe of their origins, environments, and foregrounds

Speaker: Simon Foreman (ASU) / Ayush Pandhi (University of Toronto) In Person and zoom

Zoom info: https://stanford.zoom.us/j/98604058568

Foreman: High-number-density tracers of large-scale structure, such as the hydrogen-rich galaxies measured by post-reionization 21cm intensity mapping, have low shot noise, making them particularly promising as cosmological probes. However, at large scales, other sources of stochastic noise can dominate over the intrinsic shot noise, reducing the precision achievable in a cosmological analysis based on the power spectrum. In this talk, I will review the reason for this excess stochastic noise, suggest some pathways to mitigating it, and discuss how this mitigation could improve cosmological constraints obtained from 21cm intensity mapping.