Birmingham Astrophysics - Rolling Grant 2007-2012
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: School of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
The work of the Birmingham Astrophysics & Space Research group aims to improve our understanding of the Universe, and the force of gravity which governs its structure and growth. Our extragalactic studies aim to discover the way in which galaxies, such as our own Milky Way galaxy, have developed from the small fluctuations present in the primordial gas which filled the Universe after the Big Bang, as well as probing the mysterious 'dark matter' which appears to account for over 90% of the matter in the Universe at large. Our knowledge of the cosmos to date is gleaned almost entirely from study of the electromagnetic radiation (from radio waves to gamma rays) which reaches the Earth from space. However, a whole new astronomical 'window' is about to open, based on the propagating ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves. Detection of these signals is hugely demanding, but large laser-interferometers are now very close to detecting them for the first time, and the Birmingham group is fully involved in these experiments, and in the plans to move these techniques into space within the next decade. This will ultimately allow us to study the gravitational signals from giant black holes, and from the Big Bang itself. We are working towards the first detection of gravitational waves, but also exploring the new techniques which will be required to turn the study of gravitational waves into a true branch of astronomy.
Organisations
Publications
McCarthy I
(2010)
The case for AGN feedback in galaxy groups AGN feedback in galaxy groups
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zemcov M
(2010)
First detection of the Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect increment at ? < 650 µ m
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Pratt G
(2010)
Gas entropy in a representative sample of nearby X-ray galaxy clusters (REXCESS): relationship to gas mass fraction
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Veitch J
(2010)
Bayesian coherent analysis of in-spiral gravitational wave signals with a detector network
in Physical Review D
Sesana A
(2010)
Gravitational waves and pulsar timing: stochastic background, individual sources and parameter estimation
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Acernese F
(2010)
Measurements of Superattenuator seismic isolation by Virgo interferometer
in Astroparticle Physics
Mahajan S
(2010)
Star formation, starbursts and quenching across the Coma supercluster
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Adami C
(2010)
The XMM-LSS survey: optical assessment and properties of different X-ray selected cluster classes
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Richard J
(2010)
LoCuSS: first results from strong-lensing analysis of 20 massive galaxy clusters at z = 0.2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Okabe N
(2010)
LoCuSS: CALIBRATING MASS-OBSERVABLE SCALING RELATIONS FOR CLUSTER COSMOLOGY WITH SUBARU WEAK-LENSING OBSERVATIONS
in The Astrophysical Journal