The combination of relatively narrow bandwidths with periodic patterns “could be indicative of deliberate technological activities by intelligent civilizations,” says one of the study’s authors.
A group of researchers developed a computer program for the efficient search for periodic signals emanating from the core of the Milky Way. The method is based on a fast folding algorithm (FFA) with increased sensitivity to periodic spectral sequences of narrow radio pulses.
The achievement is part of a project that aims to detect repetitive patterns that could indicate the existence of technological signatures, indicative of extraterrestrial intelligence, within our cosmic neighborhood.
“Our study introduces SETI [busqueda de inteligencia extraterrestre]for the first time, the fast folding algorithm; our open source software uses an FFA to analyze more than 1.5 million time series of periodic signals in about 30 minutes,” said research leader Akshay Suresh, an astronomer at Cornell University.
The team calibrated their algorithm on known pulsars and was able to detect the periodic radio emissions that they emit naturally. They then turned to a larger data set of scans of the center of our galaxy, where there is a dense concentration of potentially habitable stars and exoplanets. Unlike pulsars, which broadcast across a wide swath of radio frequencies, the computer program searched for repeating signals in a narrower frequency range, from 4 to 8 GHz.
“The combination of these relatively narrow bandwidths with periodic patterns could be indicative of deliberate technological activities by intelligent civilizations,” said co-author Steve Croft, a project scientist. Croft explained that the project allows the capture of “large volumes of data and Akshay’s technique provides a new method to help us look for needles in that haystack, that could provide tantalizing evidence of advanced extraterrestrial life forms.”
“Until now, SETI radio has mainly devoted its efforts to searching for continuous signals,” said co-author Vishal Gajjar, an astronomer at the SETI Institute. “Our study sheds light on the remarkable energy efficiency of a pulse train as a means of interstellar communication over great distances. In particular, this study marks the first comprehensive effort to conduct in-depth searches for these signals.” The results of the research were published Tuesday in The Astronomical Journal.
Source: RT
