Postdoctoral positions in radio astronomy

Applications are invited for postdoctoral positions in radio astronomy at Caltech. Applicants must hold a Ph.D. degree in Astronomy, Physics, or a related field. Potential areas for a candidate to be involved span instrumentation, data analysis and interpretation. Candidates with experience in instrumentation or technical aspects of interferometric calibration and imaging are particularly encouraged to apply. Active research projects include:

The Long Wavelength Array (OVRO-LWA): A low frequency (15-85 MHz) all-sky imaging and beam-forming array with focus on the auroral radio emission from exoplanets, prompt counterparts to gravitational wave events, extended air showers produced by cosmic-rays and the 21-cm power spectrum in the Cosmic Dawn epoch.

The Deep Synoptic Array (DSA-110): A 110-dish array that will localize hundreds of fast radio bursts (FRBs) to their host galaxies. The DSA will enable transformational advances in our understanding of the origins of FRBs, and of the unseen baryons in the CGM and IGM.

The Deep Synoptic Array (DSA-2000): The 2000-antenna Deep Synoptic Array(DSA-2000) is a proposed world-leading radio survey telescope and multimessenger discovery engine, with first light anticipated in 2026. The array will consist of 2000 x 5 m dishes distributed over a 15km diameter area in Nevada, operating in the 0.7 - 2 GHz frequency range.

The Radio Camera Initiative: The RCI is developing a streaming pipeline for near real-time flagging, calibration and imaging with very large-N radio interferometer arrays (thousands of antennas) such as the 2000-element Deep Synoptic Array (DSA-2000). By incorporating cross-correlation and gridding/imaging on a single hardware platform (likely GPU), applying flagging/calibration on-the-fly, the RCI will enable future large arrays to replace traditional correlators with a 'radio camera' - an integrated digital back-end that will produce the final image data in near real-time. Learning-based deconvolution will be done in the image plane.

VLA Transients: This project includes ongoing searches for radio transients in the VLA Sky Survey (VLASS) and follow-up of LIGO/Virgo detected compact binary mergers.

SPRITE: A high frequency (~100 GHz) interferometer for the follow-up of transients.

realfast: A real-time fast transient search system that operates in parallel with normal Very Large Array observations. realfast is now operational and will search thousands of hours per year to discover and localize FRBs, pulsars, and more.

Associated faculty are Professors Gregg Hallinan, Vikram Ravi, Katie Bouman, Tony Readhead and Shri Kulkarni. Additional relevant personnel are Kieran Cleary, Casey Law, Sandy Weinreb, James Lamb, David Woody and Kunal Mooley.

The postdoctoral fellowship position will start on September 1, 2022, or earlier. The initial term of the appointment is one year, renewable annually, for up to three years,subject to performance and availability of funds. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to propose for time on all of Caltech's astronomical facilities, including those at Palomar Observatory and at the W. M. Keck Observatory.

Complete applications received by December 15, 2021, will receive full consideration. Applications should consist of a single PDF file, including a cover letter specifying the project area of interest from the list above, a CV, a list of publications, and a summary of previous and current research (up to 3 pages). Please include contact details for 3 potential letters of reference.

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