Physical Society Colloquium

Probing the Radio-transient Universe with CHIME

Emmanuel Fonseca & Seth Siegel

McGill Space Institute
McGill University

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are sudden flashes of radio emission with millisecond durations and pulse-dispersion properties that place their sources at extragalactic distances. The mechanisms that produce FRB signals are unknown and the subject of active debate. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) is a uniquely powerful monitor of FRB phenomena due to its high sensitivity and a large field-of-view that is efficiently searched using a sophisticated digital backend. In this talk, we describe the CHIME telescope and its instruments, as well as recently-published and preliminary science results.