Multibeam Blind Search of Targeted SETI Observations Toward 33 Exoplanet Systems With FAST

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is to search for technosignatures associated with extraterrestrial life, such as engineered radio signals.

In this paper, we apply the multibeam coincidence matching (MBCM) strategy, and propose a new search mode based on the MBCM which we call MBCM blind search mode. In our recent targeted SETI research, 33 exoplanet systems are observed by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST).

With this blind search mode, we search for narrowband drifting signals across 1.05−1.45 GHz in two orthogonal linear polarization directions separately. There are two special signals, one of which can only be detected by the blind search mode while the other can be found by both blind and targeted search modes. This result reveals huge advantages of the new blind search mode.

However, we eliminate the possibility of the special signals being ETI signals based on much evidence, such as the polarization, drift, frequency and beam coverage characteristics. Our observations achieve an unprecedented sensitivity and our work provides a deeper understanding to the polarization analysis of extraterrestrial signals.

Xiao-Hang Luan, Zhen-Zhao Tao, Hai-Chen Zhao, Bo-Lun Huang, Shi-Yu Li, Cong Liu, Hong-Feng Wang, Wen-Fei Liu, Tong-Jie Zhang, Vishal Gajjar, Dan Werthimer

Comments: 15 pages, 1 table, 7 figures, accepted for publication in AJ. Based on the multibeam coincidence matching (MBCM) strategy by Tao et al, we propose a new search mode: MBCM blind search mode for FAST SETI observations
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
Cite as: arXiv:2301.10890 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2301.10890v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Xiao-Hang Luan
[v1] Thu, 26 Jan 2023 01:21:42 UTC (5,284 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.10890
Astrobiology, SETI