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
Gair J
(2009)
Probing seed black holes using future gravitational-wave detectors
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Carbone L
(2009)
Design of high-density electron spin-polarized test masses
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Smith J
(2008)
Measurement and simulation of laser power noise in GEO 600
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Veitch J
(2008)
Assigning confidence to inspiral gravitational wave candidates with Bayesian model selection
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Abbott B
(2008)
First joint search for gravitational-wave bursts in LIGO and GEO 600 data
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Amelino-Camelia G
(2008)
GAUGE: the GrAnd Unification and Gravity Explorer
in Experimental Astronomy
Acernese F
(2008)
The Real-Time Distributed Control of the Virgo Interferometric Detector of Gravitational Waves
in IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science
Hammond G
(2008)
Noise analysis of a Howland current source
in International Journal of Electronics
Hallam J
(2009)
Coupling of lateral grating displacement to the output ports of a diffractive Fabry-Perot cavity
in Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics
Rasmussen J
(2009)
Temperature and abundance profiles of hot gas in galaxy groups - II. Implications for feedback and ICM enrichment
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stott J
(2009)
The evolution of the red sequence slope in massive galaxy clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bergé J
(2008)
Combined analysis of weak lensing and X-ray blind surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Goss K
(2011)
Variations of the amplitudes of oscillation of the Be star Achernar Variations in the oscillations of Achernar
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Salucci P
(2007)
The baryonic and dark matter properties of high-redshift gravitationally lensed disc galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Croston J
(2009)
High-energy particle acceleration at the radio-lobe shock of Centaurus A
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Swinbank A
(2007)
The discovery of a massive supercluster at z = 0.9 in the UKIDSS Deep eXtragalactic Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mahajan S
(2009)
Red star-forming and blue passive galaxies in clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pierre M
(2007)
The XMM-Large Scale Structure catalogue: X-ray sources and associated optical data. Version I
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
George S
(2008)
A deep 150 MHz Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope survey in Eridanus
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stott J
(2008)
Near-infrared evolution of brightest cluster galaxies in the most X-ray luminous clusters since z = 1
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sanderson A
(2009)
LoCuSS: the connection between brightest cluster galaxy activity, gas cooling and dynamical disturbance of X-ray cluster cores
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Khosroshahi H
(2007)
Scaling relations in fossil galaxy groups
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Swinbank A
(2007)
Resolved spectroscopy of a gravitationally lensed L* Lyman-break galaxy at z~ 5
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
O'Sullivan E
(2010)
A deep Chandra observation of the poor cluster AWM 4 - I. Properties of the central radio galaxy and its effects on the intracluster medium A deep Chandra observation of AWM 4
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Parkin E
(2009)
3D modelling of the colliding winds in ? Carinae - evidence for radiative inhibition
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Brassington N
(2007)
The Chandra view of galaxy mergers
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sanderson A
(2010)
X-ray modelling of galaxy cluster gas and mass profiles Modelling cluster gas and mass profiles
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Maughan B
(2008)
Testing the galaxy cluster mass-observable relations at z =1 with XMM-Newton and Chandra observations of XLSSJ022403.9-041328
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McCarthy I
(2010)
The case for AGN feedback in galaxy groups AGN feedback in galaxy groups
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sesana A
(2009)
Gravitational waves from resolvable massive black hole binary systems and observations with Pulsar Timing Arrays
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dariush A
(2010)
The mass assembly of galaxy groups and the evolution of the magnitude gap
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Porter S
(2008)
Star formation in galaxies falling into clusters along supercluster-scale filaments
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
George S
(2007)
Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope low-frequency observations of extrasolar planetary systems
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith G
(2010)
LoCuSS: connecting the dominance and shape of brightest cluster galaxies with the assembly history of massive clusters LoCuSS: BCG dominance at z = 0.2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mahajan S
(2010)
Star formation, starbursts and quenching across the Coma supercluster
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Alshino A
(2010)
Luminosity functions of XMMâ??LSS C1 galaxy clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Oguri M
(2010)
Direct measurement of dark matter halo ellipticity from two-dimensional lensing shear maps of 25 massive clusters? Measurement of dark matter halo ellipticity
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dariush A
(2007)
The mass assembly of fossil groups of galaxies in the Millennium simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Rasmussen J
(2008)
Galaxy evolution in Hickson compact groups: the role of ram-pressure stripping and strangulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rasmussen J
(2007)
Temperature and abundance profiles of hot gas in galaxy groups - I. Results and statistical analysis
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jetha N
(2008)
The nature of the ghost cavity in the NGC 741 group
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Limousin M
(2010)
MACS J1423.8+2404: gravitational lensing by a massive, relaxed cluster of galaxies at z = 0.54
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sesana A
(2008)
Observing white dwarfs orbiting massive black holes in the gravitational wave and electro-magnetic window
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Russell P
(2007)
Bayesian modelling of the cool core galaxy group NGC 4325
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Johnson R
(2009)
A statistical analysis of the Two-Dimensional XMM - Newton Group Survey: the impact of feedback on group properties
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pacaud F
(2007)
The XMM -LSS survey: the Class 1 cluster sample over the initial 5 deg2 and its cosmological modelling
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sesana A
(2008)
The stochastic gravitational-wave background from massive black hole binary systems: implications for observations with Pulsar Timing Arrays
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
O'Sullivan E
(2007)
The dark haloes of early-type galaxies in low-density environments: XMM-Newton and Chandra observations of NGC 57, 7796 and IC 1531*
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Spreckley S
(2008)
The period and amplitude changes of Polaris ( UMi) from 2003 to 2007 measured with SMEI
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society