PhD defence

Unlocking Cosmic Depth and Detail

• J.M.G.H.J. de Jong

Date

Friday 9 May 2025

Time

13:00 - 14:00 hour

Address

Academy Building
Rapenburg 73
2311 GJ Leiden

Supervisor(s)

• Prof.dr. H.J.A. Rottgering
• dr. R.J. van Weeren
• dr. J.B.R. Oonk

Summary

This thesis utilises the exceptional sensitivity and resolution of the LOFAR telescope to explore the low-frequency Universe, while simultaneously advancing the telescope's capabilities to enable new scientific discovery. We first demonstrate LOFAR's capability to produce high quality images of large-scale structures, presenting the deepest image to date of a known radio bridge between two merging galaxy clusters -- an effort aimed at uncovering its origin. Shifting to smaller scales, we exploit the Dutch LOFAR stations to investigate the cosmic evolution of extended radio jet morphologies from a large sample of detected galaxies. While this provides valuable insights, it also reveals limitations due to the resolution limits when using only the Dutch LOFAR stations. This inspires the latter half of the thesis which focuses on the development of advanced data processing techniques to generate more sensitive and higher resolution images using the entire European LOFAR array. This leads to the creation of the deepest wide-field high-resolution image at 140 MHz, alongside cost-efficient methods to reduce the need for manual intervention and enable fully automated ultra-deep wide-field imaging at LOFAR's highest resolutions.

PhD dissertations

Approximately one week after the defence, PhD dissertations by Leiden PhD students are available digitally through the Leiden Repository, that offers free access to these PhD dissertations. Please note that in some cases a dissertation may be under embargo temporarily and access to its full-text version will only be granted later.

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