Overview
Dongwoo Chung works on mapping out signals of star formation over the first several billion years of observable cosmic history. Their work encompasses the operation, analysis, and interpretation of experiments employing the technique of line-intensity mapping (LIM). LIM traces the implied large-scale 3D distribution of matter across space and time through redshifted fluctuations in the total cosmic emission in specific atomic or molecular spectral lines. In cm- and mm-wave observations, these lines include the rotational lines of carbon monoxide (CO) and the [C II] line from ionized carbon, tracing the star-forming interstellar medium from ‘cosmic dawn’ through ‘cosmic noon' and thus strongly complementing observations of stellar populations of early galaxies within the capabilities of major facilities like HST and JWST. Research highlights include interim results from the CO Mapping Array Project (COMAP), currently in its Pathfinder phase; commissioning of the Tomographic Ionized-carbon Mapping Experiment (TIME); and planning of a deep spectroscopic survey using the Epoch of Reionization Spectrometer (EoR-Spec) on the CCAT facility. These lines of work admit a wide range of supporting projects encompassing simulations of signal and noise in different domains, old and new statistical techniques, and real-world observing and data analyses.