Understanding spectral artefacts in SKA-Low 21-cm cosmology experiments: the impact of cable reflections

The Cosmic Dawn was marked by the formation of the first stars, and preceded the Epoch of Reionization (EoR), when the Universe underwent a fundamental transformation caused by the radiation from these first stars and galaxies. Interferometric 21-cm experiments aim to probe redshifted neutral hydrogen signals from these periods, constraining the conditions of the early Universe. The SKA-Low instrument of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is envisaged to be the largest and most sensitive radio telescope at metre and centimetre wavelengths. The latest Aperture Array Verification Systems feature 7-m coaxial transmission lines connecting the low noise amplifiers to optical transmitters at the front of the analogue-receiving chain. An impedance mismatch between these components results in a partially reflected electromagnetic signal, introducing chromatic aberrations into the instrument bandpass. This causes power from the foreground signals to appear at higher delays, potentially contaminating the 'EoR window', a region in which the 21-cm signal should be detectable. We present an end-to-end simulation pipeline for SKA-Low using a composite sky model combining radio foregrounds from the Galactic and Extragalactic All-Sky MWA (GLEAM) Survey, Haslam 408 MHz, and a 1.5-cGpc 21-cm brightness temperature cube generated with the 21cm space simulator. We derive a model for the scattering parameters of a coaxial transmission line in terms of its specifications and bulk material properties. Assuming identical cables of length <= 15.0 m with impedance mismatch <= 10 Omega, the reflection is confined below the EoR window. However, we demonstrate that even a 0.1 per cent length tolerance introduces contamination with an absolute fractional difference of similar to 10 per cent across all accessible k-modes.