Research on the Design of a Low-Frequency All-Sky RadioImaging Array

For a low-frequency radio telescope array, the array configuration design is crucial as it is closely related to the realization of scientific objectives and represents a key technology. The Peru Low-Frequency Radio Telescope is a proposed monitoring instrument within the International Meridian Circle Program, operating in the 1–80 MHz frequency range. It comprises 16 low-frequency radio antennas, enabling solar tracking and spectrum monitoring through beamforming, while also facilitating research related to ionospheric measurements. To address the array configuration design for this telescope, this paper proposes an improved hybrid optimization algorithm based on genetic and particle swarm methods. This algorithm optimizes the antenna layout within a circular domain to achieve better full-sky synthesized beam and dirty beam side-lobe ratio distribution. Simulation results demonstrate that, under the premise of meeting the telescope's technical specifications, the array designed using this algorithm significantly improves the full-sky side-lobe ratio distribution compared to random arrays, uniform arrays, and the Vogel spiral array adopted by the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). The research findings will be applied to the construction of the Peru Low-Frequency Radio Telescope and can serve as a reference for the design of future large-scale low-frequency radio telescope arrays in China.