Towards radio astronomical imaging using an arbitrary basis

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel approach to radio astronomical imaging that generalizes the inverse Fourier transform to arbitrary transformations, potentially enabling real-time, wide-field sky imaging for large telescopes like the SKA.

Contribution

It introduces a new method for wide-field imaging using arbitrary transformations, aiming to achieve optimal computational efficiency for large sky images.

Findings

Potential to obtain sky images of size P by Q in O(PQ) time

Enables real-time, wide-field sky imaging for future telescopes

Generalizes traditional Fourier-based imaging methods

Abstract

The new generation of radio telescopes, such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), requires dramatic advances in computer hardware and software, in order to process the large amounts of produced data efficiently. In this document, we explore a new approach to wide-field imaging. By generalizing the image reconstruction, which is performed by an inverse Fourier transform, to arbitrary transformations, we gain enormous new possibilities. In particular, we outline an approach that might allow to obtain a sky image of size P times Q in (optimal) O(PQ) time. This could be a step in the direction of real-time, wide-field sky imaging for future telescopes.