{
  "abstract": "Rapid, precise localization of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) requires continuous wide-field imaging at hard X-ray and soft gamma-ray energies. We develop a fixed (non-rotating) modulation-collimator architecture to address this challenge. A bigrid collimator, a pair of aligned, periodic slit grids in front of a simple, non-imaging photon-counting detector, transmits an off-axis source through a triangular fringe pattern whose local angular position, the source phase, is recovered from simultaneous count rates in several grid pairs at fixed relative phase offsets, rather than by mechanically rotating a single grid pair as in the classical rotating modulation collimator. Four-phase demodulation of these count rates robustly cancels detector background and grid leakage without requiring rotation. Because the fringe pattern repeats across the sky, a phase measurement corresponds to many candidate source positions; we resolve this ambiguity over an arbitrarily wide field of view using a cascade of progressively coarser-pitched grid stages, generalizing the two-grid vernier-scale technique originally used to localize Sco X-1. This vernier cascade technique reduces the required photon counts and grid-calibration accuracy required to achieve fine angular resolution over a broad field of view. Generalized to two dimensions with orthogonal cascades, the resulting architecture achieves wide-field localization with no moving parts, no time modulation, and only simple photon-counting detectors, a promising candidate for simple, inexpensive, continuous-monitoring instruments supporting time-domain and multi-messenger astrophysics.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.10384",
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Steven E. Boggs"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/644j5wv0eh24d.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.10384",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "644j5wv0eh24d",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.10384",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.HE"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.IM"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3105|Astronomy and Astrophysical Research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7212149827",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.10384",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-28",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/644j5wv0eh24d.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:36:22Z",
      "native_id": "2609.10384",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.10384"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.HE",
      "subfield": "high-energy-astrophysics"
    },
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.IM",
      "subfield": "instrumentation-methods"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Wide Field Localization Using Fixed Modulation Collimators",
  "title_text": "Wide Field Localization Using Fixed Modulation Collimators",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-01T12:20:44Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/644j5wv0eh24d",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}