A visibility-based implementation of the fast-folding algorithm for efficient wide-field periodicity searches

Conventional periodicity searches in radio astronomy datasets predominantly use single-pixel time-series data.These data are collected by single-dish telescopes (possibly equipped with focal-plane array receivers, giving multi-beam capability), or from tied-array beams formed by an array telescope.However, these single-pixel timeseries datasets have limited sensitivity to periodicities longer than about 10 s, owing to gain fluctuations arising from the system electronics and a variable sky response.Moreover, tied-array beam surveys are computationally expensive, often requiring hundreds of beams to be formed to cover the field of view.In the rapidly approaching era of large-scale array telescopes, such as the SKA-Mid, SKA-Low, and DSA-2000, tied-array pulsar searches will require a formidable expenditure of computational resources.