High accuracy wide field imaging method in radio interferometry

With the development of modern radio interferometers, wide-field continuum surveys have been planned and undertaken, for which accurate wide-field imaging methods are essential. Based on the widely-used W-stacking method, we propose a new wide-field imaging algorithm that can synthesize visibility data from a model of the sky brightness via degridding, able to construct dirty maps from measured visibility data via gridding. Results carry the smallest approximation error yet achieved relative to the exact calculation involving the direct Fourier transform. In contrast to the original W-stacking method, the new algorithm performs least-misfit optimal gridding (and degridding) in all three directions, and is capable of achieving much higher accuracy than is feasible with the original algorithm. In particular, accuracy at the level of single precision arithmetic is readily achieved by choosing a least-misfit convolution function of width W = 7 and an image cropping parameter of x0 = 0.25. If the accuracy required is only that attained by the original W-stacking method, the computational cost for both the gridding and FFT steps can be substantially reduced using the proposed method by making an appropriate choice of the width and image cropping parameters.

On fractional and fractal Einstein’s field equations

In this study, Einstein’s field equations are derived based on two dissimilar frameworks: the first is based on the concepts of “fractional velocity” and “fractal action” motivated by Calcagni’s approach to fractional spacetime while the second is derived based on fractal calculus which is a generalization of ordinary calculus that include fractal sets and curves. The fractional theory displays a breakdown of Lorentz invariance. It was observed that a spatially dependent cosmological constant emerges in the fractional theory. A connection between the fractional order parameter and the dimensionless parameter [Formula: see text] arising in the parameterized post-Newtonian (PPN) formalism is observed. A confrontation with very long-baseline radio interferometry targeting quasars 3C273 and 3C279 is done which proves that the fractional order parameter is within the range [Formula: see text]. Moreover, emergence of quantum Hawking radiation is realized in the theory supporting Hawking’s best calculations that black holes are not black. Nevertheless, based on the fractal calculus approach, there is a conservation of the Lorentz invariance and absence of spatially-dependent cosmological constant. The theory depends on the fractal order [Formula: see text] and gives rise to a fractal Schwarzschild radius of the massive body greater than the conventional radius besides a fractal Hawking’s temperature less than the standard one. However, the confrontation with radio interferometry targeting quasars 3C273 and 3C279 gives [Formula: see text].

Black Holes and Quantum Gravity

The search for a quantum theory of gravitation is considered one of the most important problems in theoretical physics. Might black holes provide a key? Researchers are beginning to think that the emergence of a true black hole astronomy based on the measurement of gravitational waves and radio interferometry could bring quantum gravity into the field of experimental or observational science.