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PROJECT DESCRIPTION

UPR PARTNERSHIP FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION IN ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
(UPRPREAA)

Under the guidelines of NSF's PAARE Program, we propose to establish a
partnership for research and education in radio, radar and optical
astronomy, and astrophysics between The University of Puerto Rico (UPR),
the National Atmospheric and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) in Arecibo,
Gettysburg College (PA) and the University of California at Santa Barbara
(Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics). As a direct result of this
partnership, and the "hands on" opportunities which will result, the number
of publications by Hispanic faculty and undergraduate students will
increase and the number of Hispanic students entering graduate programs in
astronomy and astrophysics will rise.

1. LIST OF PARTICIPANTS (FEMALE FACULTY ARE UNDERLINED)

1. Rafael Muller, PI Professor Physics and Electronics Dept.
UPR at Humacao
2-Juan Carlos Cersosimo Professor Physics and Electronics Dept. UPR
at Humacao
3-Mayra Lebron Santos Assistant Professor Phys Science Dept UPR
at Rio Piedras
4-Ernesto Esteban Professor Physics and Electronics Dept.
UPR at Humacao
5-Myrna Ayala Professor Dept of Education
UPR at Humacao
6-JosИ Alonso Professor Dept of Phys and Math
UPR at Cayey
7-Murray Lewis Head, Radio Astronomy
NAIC (Arecibo)
8-Tapasi Ghosh Senior Research Associate
NAIC (Arecibo)
9-Chris Salter Senior Research Associate
NAIC (Arecibo)
10- Ellen Howell Research Associate
NAIC (Arecibo)
11-Lawrence Marshall Professor Dept of Physics
Gettysburg College

The Steering Committee
1- Cathy Eastwood Dept of Physics and Astronomy Northern Arizona
University
2- Michael M. Davis Past Site Director NAIC (Arecibo)
Retired
3- Hector Arce Dept of Astronomy
Yale University

2. PROGRAM GOALS AND MISSION OF THE PARTNERSHIP

This program has as its main goals:
1- To establish long term collaborations that will result in new and
exciting research opportunities for Hispanic faculty and undergraduate
students at the UPR.
2- To provide new educational resources and enrichment in astronomy for
Hispanic undergraduate students to increase the number continuing to
graduate school.
The Mission of UPRPREAA is to establish a long-term collaborative research
and education partnership between the University of Puerto Rico, the
University of California at Santa Barbara (Kavli Institute), the NAIC at
Arecibo, and the Gettysburg College that will result in an increase in the
participation of Hispanics in research and careers in astronomy. This PAARE
project will initiate new collaborations. The benefits of the program will
reach an even wider population by supporting an outreach program for
students and high school teachers in Astronomy and Astrophysics.
The UPRPREAA program will promote access to the astronomy staff at the
Arecibo Observatory of NAIC (an NSF funded national center for research),
thus facilitating the use of its 305-m radio telescope by researchers from
the University of Puerto Rico, and enabling UPR students to learn and be
trained via this world-class facility. This partnership will open the doors
of a unique research and teaching facility for faculty and students at the
campuses of the UPR, allowing exploitation of many the facilities of the
Observatory. This partnership will become an instrument through which
students at the UPR will develop skills and expand their knowledge of
physics, astronomy, electronics and computing.
Puerto Ricans are significantly under-represented among the nation's
astronomers and astrophysicists. The availability locally of the world's
largest single-dish radio telescope, plus the collaboration of a leading
national radio astronomy Center with the University of Puerto Rico's
teaching and research facilities provides a remarkable opportunity to 'kick-
start' activities that will equip Puerto Rican students for important roles
in science, engineering and technology. The Puerto Rican students that
participate in the Arecibo experience will be much more likely to enter
graduate programs in astronomy and astrophysics, and increase the
representation of this minority group in the field.
Other areas of astronomy will be represented in this project. Optical
astronomy will be represented through a partnership between UPR, Arecibo
and Gettysburg College, making use of currently available optical
facilities at Gettysburg and Flagstaff, Arizona. Astrophysics will be
represented by a relation with the Kavli Institute at Santa Barbara,
California.

3. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

1-To establish collaborative research projects in radio astronomy, radar
and optical
astronomy, and astrophysics
2- To bring on-board promising undergraduate and high school students by
means of
undergraduate research and science fair projects in astronomy and
astrophysics
3-To train undergraduate students in the construction of the specialized
electronics
equipment used in astronomy
4-To offer students involved in undergraduate research the opportunity of
gathering
data on site at the radio and optical facilities.
5-To strengthen the UPR infrastructure for research and education in
astronomy
6-To develop an effective outreach program in astronomy and astrophysics
7-To promote UPRPREAA as a model of a successful collaboration





4. ACTIVITIES

UPRPREAA will undertake the following activities to fulfill its objective
of enabling faculty and students to enrich their research and educational
efforts in astronomy.
1- The Arecibo Observatory, the University of Puerto Rico and the
participants
from the Gettysburg College and the Kavli Institute are all committed
to the collaborative research projects described below in the section
on collaborative research projects.

2- In addition to creating on-going collaborations during the
academic year,
UPRPREAA will support summer research work at Arecibo,
California and
observing runs at Flagstaff by UPR faculty and students, which
will also include
gifted high school students pursuing science fair projects.

3- UPRPREAA will also serve as a platform for the recruitment of
astronomy
faculty members at the UPR campuses, as positions are opened
through
retirement, etc., attracting young, minority astronomy faculty to UPR
to join the partnership.

4- Importantly, the UPRPREAA will enable access by UPR faculty and
students
to all research and educational facilities of the Arecibo
Observatory, including
the library and instrumentation facilities, allowing minority
faculty and students
access to world-class facilities for their research and education.

5- The UPRPREAA partnership will be enhanced through the use of
videoconference
facilities at Arecibo, California and the various campuses of the
UPR.
Teleconferencing will be used as a real time communication link to
facilitate the
direct exchange of information between research partners, as well as
for
educational purposes.

6- The staff, post-docs and graduates in residence at the Arecibo
Observatory, and
the partners at Gettysburg College and in California will provide
seminars to the
students at the UPR campuses on a regular basis using the
above teleconference
facilities. The UPRPREAA faculty at UPR campuses will also
offer seminars
via teleconference on the progress of their research projects.

7- UPRPREAA will enable faculty and student exchange throughout the
academic year, as needed and possible, to facilitate the
research partnerships.

8- UPRPREAA will facilitate summer internships for students to the
Arecibo
Observatory and other sites as needed for the research projects.

9- UPRPREAA will fund courses in astronomy and astrophysics to be
offered to
interested undergraduates. It will also sponsor seminars and
workshops offered by
members of the partnership.

10- UPRPREAA will fund astronomy workshops for high school science
teachers
targeting those from public schools that are the main feeders of
the UPR
campuses involved in the UPRPREAA. The workshops will include
presentations
on the research efforts of the partners and undergraduate
students with the
objective of encouraging teachers to motivate their students to
follow careers
in astronomy and astrophysics. One very important workshop will
take place
after the 12-meter class antenna for phase referencing is up
and running (see the
radio research program below). Through this school teachers can
also be trained
radio astronomical data acquisition.
11- All partners will participate in an annual research and education
presentation
meeting conducted either at the Humacao UPR facilities or the
Arecibo
Observatory's Angel Ramos Foundation Visitor Center. This
activity will take
place at the same time as the meeting of the steering committee, and
serve as a
focus for promoting the partnership among all science faculty in the
campuses
and the NAIC staff so as to, in a single activity, evaluate progress,
inform the
broader community and promote UPRPREAA.

5- RESEARCH PROGRAM

The research and education activities will be centered on three main
areas: Radio Astronomy, Radar & Optical Astronomy, and Astrophysics.
.
5.1 RADIO ASTRONOMY

HAAT - the ''Humacao-Arecibo Astrometric Telescope'' -- is a 12-m class
radio telescope planned to fill two separate, yet complementary, roles in
this long-term collaborative partnership between UPR-Humacao and the
Arecibo Observatory. These are:
(1) To provide a unique research and teaching facility for the University
of Puerto Rico, allowing them to exploit the facilities of the Arecibo
Observatory of NAIC (an NSF-funded national center for research.) In this
guise HAAT would serve as an instrument with which students and staff at
UPR and other Puerto Rican universities can develop skills and perform
research in physics, astronomy, electronics, and computing. This would
apply from the classroom, through the teaching and research laboratories,
to the use of the facilities of NAIC for full-scale research projects.
(2) NAIC itself sees the need for occasional use of HAAT as a phase
reference antenna for improving the performance of its 305-m antenna in
VLBI programs open to all scientists from the US and elsewhere.



5.1.1 SCIENTIFIC IMPACT OF HAAT

The 305-m Arecibo radio telescope is the world's largest, most sensitive,
single-dish radio telescope. It is equipped with receivers between 47 MHz
and 10 GHz. In addition to its single-dish capabilities, the telescope also
participates in Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations with
the VLBA, HSA, EVN and Global VLBI networks. All observing time on the 305-
m telescope is granted via a highly competitive peer review process, open
to researchers world wide. Although not unknown, opportunities for
undergraduates to utilize the instrument, or gain hands-on experience in
radio sciences by building equipment for it, have been limited.
In order to broaden the range of scientific possibilities it offers its
users, while enhancing the educational and outreach facilities of the
Observatory, NAIC is currently in the process of acquiring an auxiliary a
12-m class radio telescope to be sited near the 305-m dish. Such an
instrument would have scientific capabilities that are both complementary
to, and independent of, the 305-m telescope, and would be available for
educational programs in partnership with Puerto Rican educational
institutions as described in this proposal. We foresee the antenna being
scheduled in support of Arecibo user operations with the 305-m telescope
for a maximum of ~10 % of its time. All other time (apart from maintenance)
would be available for integration into the educational and research needs
of UPR, and Public Outreach ventures in collaboration with the UPR and the
Observatory's Visitor Center. We expect the antenna to become operational
within 18 months of the startup of this proposal (January 15, 2009), so the
antenna will be used for teacher's hands-on workshops during the third year
of this project. Thus, NAIC's involvement in the development of HAAT would
be a contribution from it to the training of Puerto Rican scientists,
engineers and technicians, as well as enhance the options it offers its
user base for astronomy and planetary physics
Below, we detail some of the specific scientific and education activities
that can benefit from this auxiliary telescope, HAAT. The following
scientific directions will form the basis of a partnership between UPR, led
by its Humacao campus, and NAIC/ Arecibo Observatory.
One of the early aspects of this collaboration is the construction of a C-
band receiver for the phase-reference antenna. This collaborative project
will involve students from Humacao's Associate Degree Program in
Electronics Technology who will be in residence at Arecibo for at least one
or two summer seasons under the guidance of an electrical engineer from
Humacao working on the assembly of this receiver. The faculty at the
Humacao campus includes four electrical engineers. Funds are requested for
the summer salary and release time during two academic years for one
engineer from Humacao to supervise the construction of the device in
coordination with NAIC staff. Salary is also requested for one electronics
technician for the accomplishment of this educational activity that will be
most significant for the partnership.



5.1.2 VLBI -- Phase Referencing:

Phase referencing in VLBI observations has made it possible to study very
weak radio sources by increasing the effective coherence time for the
observations from, at maximum, a few minutes to hours. Currently, some 50%
of VLBI observations are carried out using the phase-referencing technique.
However, phase referencing observations encounter limitations with the
Arecibo 305-m telescope. The Gregorian dome, located on a suspended
platform, has slow slew rates (24o/min in azimuth, 2o.4 /min in zenith
angle.) Hence, in a typical phase-referenced observation, where the
calibrator could be located 3o or more from the target, a significant
amount of observing time, often ™ 50%, is wasted slewing between the two
sources, leading to a significant loss in signal-to-noise ratio. However,
phased-referenced VLBI observations could be performed using a smaller
"auxiliary" telescope `` to track the phase calibrator, while the 305-m
antenna observes the target most of the time, only occasionally moving to
the calibrator. The effects due to ionospheric/tropospheric phase
fluctuations can be derived from the data coming from the small telescope
and applied to the target data from the 305-m dish. While this technique
has been successfully applied for observations with the extensive MERLIN
array in the UK, it will be new to VLBI. Implementing its application for
VLBI will be a major collaborative research activity under the present
proposal.

In due course, the four standard VLBI frequency bands below 10 GHz will
need to be serviced by the auxiliary antenna. We will begin operations,
including providing proof of concept for the technique, via a receiver
system at 6 cm, the wavelength most requested for Arecibo phase-referenced
VLBI operations. We expect the auxiliary antenna to share the Observatory's
maser time/frequency standard.

The Arecibo Observatory intends to procure and a 12-m class phase-reference
antenna for use both by UPRPREAA and in general support of VLBI
observations made with its 305-m antenna. However, NAIC does not foresee
being able to provide the technical manpower to build and maintain the
complement of receivers needed to properly exploit the potential of this
additional antenna within the funding from its Cooperative Agreement with
NSF. Hence support for the construction and maintenance of the initial C-
band receiving system is sought here by UPR-Humacao from this Proposal. UPR-
Humacao will join with NAIC in seeking funding for other receivers for the
phase reference antenna via future MRI proposals.

The effective area yields a point-source sensitivity of ~0.026 K/Jy. The
anticipated antenna will work with full efficiency to at least a frequency
of 15 GHz, meaning that it will operate efficiently across the complete
frequency range of the 305-m telescope (327 MHz to 10 GHz). With a system
temperature of T deg K, this would give a system equivalent flux density of
~38.6 T Jy. If HAAT were to have a similar Tsys to a VLBA telescope at
this wavelength, then the baseline sensitivity for a 12-m to a VLBA antenna
(1-() would be ~20 mJy/beam. This implies that, at the 5-( level, sources
brighter than about 100 mJy/beam will be suitable for phase referencing,
which would include the majority of sources from the various sections of
the VLBA Calibrator Survey.


5.1.3 Research Area-I : Astronomical Projects using Phase Referencing VLBI


Collaborators: Rafael Muller (UPR-HUMACAO), Juan Carlos
Cersosimo (UPR- HUMACAO), Mayra Lebron (UPR-Rio Piedras),
Chris Salter (NAIC-AO), Tapasi Ghosh (NAIC-AO), Jim Cordes (Cornell
University), Mikael Lerner (NAIC-AO), Robert Minchin (NAIC-AO)


Stellar (radio/optical) Astrometry:

In a white paper submitted to the NSF ExoPlanet Task Force, Bower et al.
(arXiv:astro-ph/0704.0238v1) explore the possibility of "Radio Astrometric
Detection and Characterization of Extra-Solar Planets". Utilizing the
better than 100-microarcsec positional accuracy routinely achieved with the
VLBA, they propose carrying out a Radio Interferometric Planet search
(RIPL) that will survey 29 low-mass, active (radio-loud) M-dwarf stars over
3 years. This would have sub-Jovian planet mass sensitivity at distances of
about 1~AU from the star. They note that, "Radio astrometric planet
searches occupy a unique volume in planet discovery and characterization
parameter space, which gives greater sensitivity to planets at large radii
than do radial velocity searches. For the VLBA and the expanded VLBA, the
targets of radio astrometric surveys are by necessity nearby, low-mass,
active stars, which cannot be studied efficiently through the radial
velocity method, coronography, or optical interferometry."

Current measurement errors are limited by the number of compact sources
near the stellar targets that are well above the detection threshold of
their observations and which can be used as reference sources in their
differential measurements. The addition of Arecibo in such surveys would
increase the detection sensitivity by a factor of four, making it possible
to venture into the study of objects with one third of the mass of Jupiter
as companions of similar stellar types. As Arecibo's primary beam is much
smaller than other telescopes, and the slew rate slower, the availability
of HAAT for phase referencing would be highly beneficial for taking such
studies down to thermally emitting stars.

A Broad-impact VLBI Measurement of Trigonometric Parallax of Star Clusters:


In an impressive work using the VLBA at 8 GHz, Menten et al. (2007, A&A,
474, 515) have determined the trigonometric parallax of several stars in
the Orion BN/KL region, allowing them to derive the most accurate value to
date ($414\pm 7$~pc) for the distance to this region. This is about an
order of magnitude better than the previous value of 361$^{+168}_{-87}$~pc
determined from the optical parallax measurement of a single star in this
complex by Hipparcos. Luminosity-based distance estimates of star-forming
regions could be adversely affected by poorly known extinctions, and the
new radio technique is an important way to improve the estimation of
distances, and hence luminosities, with subsequent impact on star-
formation theories. Once again, the inclusion of Arecibo would permit the
extension of such studies to fainter, more distant, star-forming regions.

Pulsar Astrometry:

High-precision astrometry of pulsars over multiple epochs can provide their
basic astrometric parameters: positions, proper motions, and annual
trigonometric parallaxes. Due to the weakness of most pulsars, with duty
cycles of typically <10%, the participation of Arecibo and phase
referencing is vital to the success of this exercise. In respect of
positional measurements, we note that VLBI estimations are tied to the
reference frame of the distant quasars, rather than the Solar-system frame
used by pulsar timing positional estimates. This allows fundamental
reference frame ties between the Solar-system and extragalactic (ICRF)
frames via measurements of recycled pulsars, which are highly stable
rotators.

Proper motion estimates allow pulsars to be traced back to their birth
sites and, for very young pulsars, associations with progenitor supernova
remnants (SNRs) can be established, providing independent age estimates for
SNRs. Combined with pulsar distance estimates, proper motion measurements
lead to estimates of space velocities, allowing a study of the natal kicks
imparted to pulsars at the time of their birth. When a parallax measurement
is possible, this yields a model independent estimate for the distance (and
hence velocity) of the neutron star. Such measurements, (i) calibrate
models of the Galactic electron distribution, (ii) constrain SN core
collapse using the velocity estimates, and (c) provide photospheric sizes
for hot neutron stars with optically observed thermal surface radiation,
constraining the equation of state of matter at extreme pressures and
densities.

Detection Experiemnts:


Present-day VLBI offers thehighest sensitivity radio astronomical
observations yet achieved, with noise levels presently approaching 1
$\mu$Jy/beam being for arrays using the world's most sensitive telescopes.
Hence, the 305-m Arecibo telescope is being increasingly used in
experiments to detect radio emission from very weak, very compact,
astronomical targets such as radio X-ray stars, distant supernovae and
their remnants, Gamma-Ray Bursts, and red-dwarf and other stars. For these
sensitivity levels to be reached for targets of very low intensity, it is
essential that phase-referencing be used.

VLBI imaging of molecular gas in ULIRGs:

Arecibo and the GBT are currently searching for cm-wavelength lines of
prebiotic and other molecules in Ultra-Luminous InfraRed Galaxies (ULIRGs).
The project has been inspired by the recent Arecibo detection of the
prebiotic molecule, methanimine (CH2NH) in the protypical ULIRG/megamaser
galaxy, Arp 220 (Salter et al. 2008, AJ, 136, 389). These galaxies are
considered to be extreme merger systems and are heavily obscured at optical
wavelengths. Molecular lines from these galaxies often show wide velocity
widths, caused by line blending due to spatial and velocity overlaps.
Detailed studies maser emission and molecular absorption lines from these
objects require phase-referenced VLBI observations. Sources with molecular-
line detections from the Ar-GBT search will be followed up by high-
resolution VLBI mapping using HAAT as a phase-referencing unit at Arecibo.



5.1.4. Research Area-II : Using HAAT As An Independent Single Dish
Collaborators: Juan Carlos Cersocimo (UPR-Humacao), Chris Salter (NAIC-
AO)

[Note: In this section the equations need to be translated into .doc
format. ]

Full-Stokes Galactic Plane continuum Surveys with HAAT:


The 12-m class HAAT telescope, together with existing Arecibo backends,
will enable the making of full-Stokes, continuum surveys using the cooled
dual-channel receivers that will be built for use with the dish. Full-
Stokes continuum surveys of the wider Galactic plane at high frequencies
with HAAT can provide unique databases in a number of ways. Firstly, they
can yield full spatial frequency, full-Stokes mapping at previously
unmapped wavelengths, with competitive resolution for such extended
features as the Galactic background emission, HII complexes, and middle-
aged and old SNRs. Comparison with the existing lower frequency surveys
would allow accurate estimation of spectral index distributions over these
features, providing the ability to perform accurate thermal-nonthermal
separation on angular scales between 1o. and <10 arcmin allowing the study
of energy injection to the ISM, energy losses for relativistic particles
associated with SNRs, and the mechanisms of vertical transport and
diffusion of energy from the disk of the Galaxy into the halo and
intergalactic space.

Linear polarization measurements are of especial importance. The
appearance of the polarized sky at ( > 21 cm is complex. Westerbork at 327
MHz (for high Galactic latitudes) and the 1.4-GHz Canadian Galactic Plane
Survey have shown that there is little relationship between total intensity
and polarization structures; for the diffuse Galactic synchrotron emission,
the bulk of the area of the Galactic Plane imaged on arcminute scales at L-
band reveals highly structured polarization features with no counterparts
in Stokes I. The accepted interpretation of this is that, although the
Galactic synchrotron emission is intrinsically quite smooth, differential
Faraday rotation in the intervening magneto-ionic medium, (the Faraday
Screen), imposes fine structure on the polarized emission. In other words,
the low-frequency polarized sky is dominated by propagation effects rather
than by intrinsic emission structure. This field is now moving from
phenomenology to astrophysics.

The signals produced by the Faraday Screen are rather weak, and the limited
surface brightness sensitivity of interferometers samples only the
strongest, and for these the derived rotation measures (RMs) are noisy due
to low signal-to-noise per channel. Moreover, missing zero-spacings in
interferometric observations lead to complications in interpretation. The
high brightness sensitivity of HAAT, coupled with its few arcminute beam
size at high frequencies, promises major advances in the study of the
magneto-ionic medium. At these frequencies(( 5 GHz) the effects of Faraday
rotation become tiny ($\Delta\theta \propto \nu^{-2}$) and HAAT
polarization position angles are essentially those intrinsic to the
emission, providing both intrinsic directions of magnetic fields and a
database against which lower frequency polarization distributions can be
definitively interpreted.

In existing studies of the Faraday Screen, the spectral signatures of the
polarized intensity have been examined to seek only a single RM value per
image pixel. Such a value corresponds to a RM in the foreground of the
dominant polarized emission component along a given sight-line. However,
the Faraday Screen is spread out in depth along each line of sight, with
regions of polarized emission at different distances along the sight-line
contributing to the observed spectrum with their corresponding foreground
Faraday rotation signature. Because of depolarization effects, bandwidth
integrated polarization will show lower degrees of polarization than those
intrinsic to individual slabs. With an appropriate combination of
observing frequency, bandwidth and spectral resolution, it should be
possible to perform Faraday tomography, wherein the spectral polarized
intensity modulations along a given sight-line can be transformed to a set
of polarized intensities as a function of Faraday depth (i.e. RM). Thus, it
should be possible to derive a polarized-intensity data cube (quite like a
spectral-line data cube) with two dimensions being the sky coordinates and
the third being RM. High-frequency images from HAAT would be invaluable in
pursuing this endeavor.

Away from the Galactic plane, the high latitude regions contain several
well-known non-thermal emission structures, notably the North Polar Spur
(Loop 1), an object that contains rich small-scale structure, both on its
main arc and in internal ridging. Above b = 45 deg, low resolution
measurements of this nearby (~100 pc distant), old SNR show >70% linearly
polarization at 1.4 GHz. Higher frequency, higher resolution, HAAT images
would directly reveal magnetic field directions in this object.

We specifically mention the L-band Arecibo GALFA Continuum Transit Survey
(GALFACTS), which is being made by an international consortium of
astronomers led by Prof. Russ Taylor (U. Calgary). This full-Stokes survey
of the whole sky observable with the 305-m telescope covers 1225 - 1525
MHz, with 8192 frequency channels. At L-band, the Faraday rotation effects
on the linearly polarized radiation are considerable, and a continuum
survey at much higher frequency, but similar resolution, (HPBW ~ 4 arcmin
for GALFACTS), would allow thermal-nonthermal separation, and aid Faraday
tomography when comibined with GALFACTS. The same situation exists for a
large part of the Southern Galactic Plane L-band continuum survey being
made with the Parkes radio telescope (HPBW ~ 15 arcmin; Haverkorn et al
2006). HAAT surveys would also provide vital low-spatial frequency data for
future interferometric full-Stokes surveys.



Synergy with GLAST

(-ray emission from our Galaxy is believed to be produced by, a)
brehmsstrahlung from the interaction of cosmic-ray electrons and the
interstellar gas, and b) the decay of neutral pions produced in
interactions between the gas and cosmic-ray protons and heavier nuclei.
The former is thought to dominate at <1 MeV, and the latter at higher
energies. Similar distributions of (-rays are found at low latitudes in
both energy ranges, suggesting that the cosmic-ray heavy particle-to-
electron ratio is constant over the Galaxy. If so, the (-ray emissivity,
$\eta_{\gamma}$, is proportional to the product of the cosmic-ray
intensity and the total (i.e. neutral and ionized atomic, plus molecular,
gas) gas density ($\rho$);

\begin{equation}
\eta_{\gamma} \propto N_{0}\rho
\end{equation}

where the cosmic-ray energy distribution is,

\begin{equation}
N(E)dE = N_{0}E^{-\Gamma}dE
\end{equation}

Now, for the synchrotron component of the Galactic radio emission, the
emissivity is,

\begin{equation}
\eta_{R} \propto N_{0}B_{\perp}\!\!^{(\Gamma +1)/2}
\end{equation}

where $B_{\perp}$ is the magnetic field strength perpendicular to the
line of sight.

The Galactic distributions of the three quantities, $N_{0}$, $\rho$ and
$B$, are all of great astrophysical interest. Arecibo will contribute
significantly to a knowledge of $\rho$ over the accessible sky, GALFA
consortia providing, a) the 2-dimensional distribution of HI, while the
thermal-nonthermal separation of the continuum emission mapped by HAAT and
GALFACTS surveys will provide the 2-D distributions of, b) the thermal
emission from HII and c) the non-thermal synchrotron emission. The 2-D
distribution of the molecular gas is already available from CO surveys of
similar resolution. Hence, combining Arecibo HAAT and ALFA work with other
radio data and the high-fidelity GLAST (-ray background images will provide
the information needed to "unfold" the 2-D distributions and derive the
Galactic distributions of $N_{0}$, $\rho$ and $B$. This would represent a
major contribution to our understanding of the detailed distribution of the
magnetic field and cosmic rays in Galactic disk.

5.1.5. Research Area-III : Radio Recombination Line survey Using the 305-m
Dish and the ALFA receiver

Collaborators: Mayra Lebron (UPR-Rio Piedras), Juan Carlos Cersocimo (UPR-
Humacao), Chris Salter (NAIC-AO)

[Some text needed from RRL survey documents --]

5.2 RADAR+OPTICAL ASTRONOMY

Collaborators: Ellen Howell (NAIC-Arecibo), R.J. Muller (UPR at Humacao),
Lawrence Marshall (Gettysburg College)

Combining Radar and Optical Observations of Asteroids

New types of near-Earth asteroids are still being discovered. Moreover, the
optical surveys that are about to come on-line will discover new, even
smaller asteroids at more than ten times the current rate over the next few
years. We therefore expect to continue to make surprising discoveries about
these objects. Radar observation of asteroids is a powerful tool to extract
information about their physical properties and orbits. Further, when their
echoes are strong enough, the Arecibo radar can achieve an imaging
resolution of about 10 meters.
Dr Ellen Howell, in collaboration with Dr Michael Nolan and Dr Chris Magri
(Univ. of Maine at Farmington), use extremely computer-intensive asteroid
shape-modeling software to generate models from the radar images. These
have been generated for five objects over the past two years, and several
more are in progress. Radar-derived models are ideal for refining
simplistic models and for constraining the rotational period of an object.
One astrometric radar measurement of an object increases the precision of
its orbit by an order of magnitude compared to that from a set of optical
measurements. Nevertheless, the combination of an optical light curve with
a set of radar measurements is important in constraining a model's shape,
which in turn gives us insight into the asteroid's dynamics and internal
structure.
When the rotation period of an asteroid is obtained from its light curve,
its sub-Earth latitude can be determined from the Doppler width of its
radar echo. However, the shape derived solely from a light curve cannot
elucidate any concave zones it may have on its surface; these are imaged by
radar. The combination of optical light-curves and radar images is very
effective.
We propose to institute a Radar-Optical partnership to increase the number
of asteroids for combining radar observations from Arecibo with light
curves obtained from the Gettysburg College 0.4-m reflector and/or the NURO
0.8-m telescope at Anderson Mesa, near Flagstaff, Arizona. Dr Ellen Howell
and collaborators will select asteroids and obtain radar data, while Drs.
Rafael Muller and Larry Marshall will obtain light-curves.
The Gettysburg Telescope is available at short notice. Both Drs. Marshall
and Muller have access to the NURO telescope (www.nuro.nau.edu) of Lowell
Observatory. The photometric sky at 7200 feet above sea level at Anderson
Mesa allows for very precise light curves, with broadband color photometry
using BVRI filters. A single evening of continuous monitoring can often
yield useful results, while several nights usually suffice for a definitive
light curve. Both optical observers have access to 12 nights of observing
time at NURO per year. Software for data reduction, such as MIRA, is
readily available and easy to use. There are literally tens of thousands of
target objects bright enough for observation with our telescopes.
This should be a very fruitful way to obtain observations, even at short
notice, for near-Earth asteroids that are only bright for a very short time
as they pass close to the Earth. As possible, we will also obtain color
photometry to combine compositional information with the radar properties:
the composition is also critical when considering possible mitigation
strategies for potential Earth impactors.
[Asteroidal light-curve determination is an ideal student project, as it is
straight-forward, while letting the student carry out all the steps in
making a practical astronomical observation. Photometry projects may
require only a few nights of observing on a small-to-moderate aperture
telescope, and the data analysis is fairly direct and easy to learn. ]










6. EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAM

Collaborators: All UPR faculty, including the educational coordinator, Dr
JosИ Alonso (UPR Cayey Campus), the evaluator, Dr. Myrna Ayala (UPR at
Humacao Campus), and Dr. Murray Lewis ( NAIC)

6.1 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
We are committed to the mentoring of undergraduate students in all research
activities described above. Our experience at the departmental level
demonstrates that undergraduate research activity stimulates the intellect,
enhances creativity, and nurtures the development of new skills among
students. Those who have the opportunity to work in a research environment
are properly socialized and equipped with valuable information to select
graduate school and research topics. For example, in the last 5 years
approximately 40% of the students in the Physics and Electronics Department
of the Humacao Campus have been involved in undergraduate research
experiences. Of those, two per year on average are following the graduate
path at Universities in the U.S; one each of the graduating classes of 2006
and 2007 are following graduate programs in astronomy. This proposal will
allow us to do a better job mentoring students interested in astronomy &
astrophysics, and thus increase the number of minority students that
proceed to seek advanced degrees in the field



6.2 TECHNICAL STUDENT'S INSTRUMENTATION PROGRAM


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6.3 STUDENT AND FACULTY EXCHANGE


In the Student and Faculty Exchange program, undergraduate students and
faculty spend a summer month doing research at NAIC, at a university in the
US, and/or doing observing runs at telescopes in the US. Students and
faculty will participate as teams. Teams consist of at least a student and
his/her faculty mentor. The participation of students and mentors together
ensures the continuity of the efforts during the academic year. During the
exchange period the participants will have access to instrumentation and
library resources that are not available in their home institutions, and
the opportunity to learn new techniques and to exchange information with
collaborators. Faculty exchange will also be aimed at bringing more
experienced personnel from other institutions to UPR and providing minority
students and women students the opportunity to work in a minority
institution that has been successful in graduating women minority students
with science degrees.

6.4 WORKSHOPS

Workshops focused on our collective research agenda will be organized
yearly, aiming to discuss and evaluate this proposed multi-campus program
and to keep the participants in touch with the most updated, innovative and
relevant topics.

5. SEMINARS AND VIDEO CONFERENCIES

In order to keep the groups integrated and to disseminate the most relevant
results obtained from research topics, seminars and videoconferences will
be held monthly. All faculty participants involved in research and
education activities will participate in this activity.

6. HANDS ON WORKSHOPS & OPEN HOUSES FOR HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

Presentations on the research subjects of astronomy and astrophysics will
be given during our annual hands-on workshops and open houses for high
school teachers and students. Workshops for high school teachers will be
conducted at the facilities at NAIC putting emphasis on research subjects.
When the phase reference antenna becomes operational, hands-on workshops
will be conducted for high school teachers and students using the phase
reference antenna as a tool for learning data acquisition and analysis in
radio astronomy

6.7 WEBSITE FOR UPRPREAA

A website with our activities and main results will be prepared with the
aim of attracting motivated high school students.

6. MANAGEMENT PLAN

UPRPREAA will be administered from the Humacao Campus of the University of
Puerto Rico, an undergraduate institution serving close to 4500 students,
of whom 99% are Hispanic. Humacao is one of 11 campuses of the University
of Puerto Rico system. The Chancellor of the Humacao Campus of the UPR, Dr.
Hilda ColСn-Plumey will be the institutional authority. The PI of UPRPREAA
will be Dr. Rafael Muller, permanent faculty member of the Department of
Physics and Electronics of the Humacao Campus, with close to 10 years
experience administering Title II funds for in-service teacher training.
The PI in collaboration with the staff and faculty will be responsible for
the day-to-day implementation and operation of the program. The CO-PI will
be Dr Murray Lewis from NAIC (Arecibo).
Two other campuses of the University of Puerto Rico are represented in
UPRPREAA: Dr Mayra LebrСn, from Rio Piedras and Dr. JosИ Alonso, our
educational coordinator, from Cayey. The educational Coordinator will
report directly to the PI. Dr Myrna Ayala, from the education department at
Humacao (UPR) and with extensive experience evaluating science activities
and projects, will be in charge of assessment and evaluation, and will
respond directly to the PI. The evaluation plan is presented on page 14 .

The research and education groups will be composed of (Radioastronomy)
Chris Salter, Tapasi Ghosh, JC Cersosimo, Mayra LebrСn and Murray Lewis;
(Optical/Radar) Rafael Muller, Lawrence Marshall and Ellen Howell;
(Astrophysics) Ernesto Esteban



7.1 THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The Advisory Committee will play an important role in our Collaboration as
a sounding board on the programs and procedures being adopted. The members
of the Committee are three distinguished astronomers from universities in
the USA (CVs have been included with proposal):



o Kathy Eastwood (University of Northern
Arizona)

o Michael M. Davis ( former director,
Arecibo, now retired)

o Rafael Arce ( Yale University)

They will participate in the annual meetings, both to review and present a
report to the PI on their perception of the program status as well as to
offer suggestions for improvements. The specific responsibilities of the
Advisory Committee are: to play a leadership role and participate in
strategic planning related to the ongoing development and maintenance of
the UPRPREAA, to assist UPRPREAA faculty in maintaining awareness of
current trends in research and education; to provide advice to faculty on
program design, content, and resources.

All the program participants will meet once a year in UPR-Humacao or at the
Arecibo Visitors Center during our annual meetings. In these two-day
meetings, the PI will present a progress report on the program, while all
the student and faculty collaborators will present the results of their
research and education efforts. They will have time to exchange ideas and
to evaluate and discuss the future direction of the effort. At the end of
the annual meeting the Advisory Committee will write a report with their
recommendations

Funds are requested to hire an Administrative Coordinator. The
Administrative Coordinator will be responsible for the administrative
aspects of the program in collaboration with the PI and the Educational and
Outreach Coordinator.




8.0 Assessment and Evaluation plan

The program will allow students and faculty to increase their knowledge and
skills by actively undertaking research projects in astronomy and
astrophysics, and by improving the mentoring of undergraduates interested
in astronomy. Continuous formative evaluation will be completed throughout
the program, especially during the first two years to find out if:
1) education activities were developed and carried out as planned,
2) audiences were from various target groups (minority, women,
undergraduates and faculty), 3) students had the opportunity to work in a
team-based approach in research activities, 4) program content includes
research experiences and meets the stated objectives, and 5) the program is
on course to becoming a successful model for other programs in the United
States.
Objectives will be measured using data on advancing undergraduates,
students accepted at universities in the mainland, number of refereed
papers, interview of main staff, copies of brochures and other handout
materials, impact of web site, questionnaires by participants, discussion
of focus groups. Summative evaluations will be carried out at the end of
each year by focus groups of faculty and students, surveying students and
faculty participating in the program and analyzing copy of publications
(web page, brochures, etc.).This information will also be furnished to the
Steering Committee for their appraisal and evaluation at the annual
meeting.

The educational activities will be assessed to ensure that they are
effective and that they are consonant with the UPRPREAA objectives. It is
very important to evaluate the outreach activities to ensure that they
target the correct population and accomplish their objectives. We should
follow the evaluation plan to ensure that the UPRPREAA is a successful
model and that it strengthens the infrastructure for research and education
in astronomy at the University of Puerto Rico.


9.0 Dissemination


In order to promote an extensive dissemination of our combined research-
curriculum development, we will offer workshops, open houses, and
laboratory demonstrations for faculty and students of other universities,
schools and industry. The participants will visit our facilities or we will
communicate with them using the available videoconferencing facilities. The
information developed as a result of this program, including that in CD ROM
format, will be offered to the other units of the UPR system and to any
other institution interested in our results. Publications, presentations by
faculty and students, and the web page will make our results available to
the scientific and educational communities.



10.0 IMPAct of the Proposed Project


The impact of this project will be substantial. The UPR-HUMACAO is the
largest producer of undergraduate physics/chemistry and computational
mathematics majors on the island. Continuity from the B.S. level to
graduate school will be sustained. Undergraduates at UPR-HUMACAO and other
participating institutions will be given a unique opportunity to engage in
undergraduate research and to interact with mainland students
(undergraduate and graduate) at Arecibo with the unavoidable consequence of
being motivated to pursue graduate school. The faculty sense of self worth
is greatly enhanced by participating as co-investigators with leaders in
their fields.

New research capabilities will be made available, which has the prospect of
attracting even more faculty into research, thereby increasing the pool of
active scientists on the island. By involving faculty from other units of
UPR (UPR_Rio Piedras and UPR-Cayey) the extent of the collaboration will be
enhanced by at least 50%, and the number of students that participate in
this project will increase. This will serve two purposes: it will help
establish a credible research environment in the south-east part of the
island, and it will serve as a motivating factor in inviting local high
school students to campus for the purpose of demonstrating to them the
range and variety of research projects undertaken by undergraduates, some
of whom the high school students may even recognize.


10.1 BROADER IMPACT



The phase reference antenna is proposed here as a PAARE project. Its
intended use in augmenting VLBI observations generates precise locations
for radio sources. Thus future work may measure the precession (and hence
the distances) of pulsars over a wide swath of our Galaxy. So one future
use we forsee is in tying together the optical, radio, and Solar System
fundamental frames of reference. In particular, accurate pulsar timing
observations of milli-second pulsars produce positions in the Solar System
coordinate frame, while VLBI provides their astrometric radio positions
with respect to other radio sources. However a small number of pulsars also
have optical counterparts, which would enable all three systems to be
integrated.

The inverse of accurate position measurements of cosmic sources is accurate
knowledge of one's position on the Earth. Thus the HAAT antenna also has
utility in such non-astronomical contexts as geodesic observations of
continental plate drift, and the local definition of the vertical. The
potential implementation of a HAAT antenna has generated interest in the
geodesic community, which in turn may lead to a fresh community of users
and perhaps to a future PAARE-type proposal from that community. We have
some hopes that this community may help to instrument the antenna.