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.

Publications

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Sumner T (2007) STEP (satellite test of the equivalence principle) in Advances in Space Research

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Tarrant N (2008) Oscillations in ß Ursae Minoris Observations with SMEI in Astronomy & Astrophysics

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Van Weeren R (2009) Radio observations of ZwCl 2341.1+0000: a double radio relic cluster in Astronomy & Astrophysics

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Egami E (2010) The Herschel Lensing Survey (HLS): Overview in Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Pereira M (2010) LoCuSS: A Herschel view of obscured star formation in Abell 1835 in Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Smith G (2010) LoCuSS: Probing galaxy transformation physics with Herschel in Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Rawle T (2010) Deep Herschel view of obscured star formation in the Bullet cluster in Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Carbone L (2009) Design of high-density electron spin-polarized test masses in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Van Der Sluys M (2008) Parameter estimation of spinning binary inspirals using Markov chain Monte Carlo in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Accadia T (2010) Commissioning status of the Virgo interferometer in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Babak S (2008) The Mock LISA Data Challenges: from Challenge 1B to Challenge 3 in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Smith J (2008) Measurement and simulation of laser power noise in GEO 600 in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Babak S (2008) Report on the second Mock LISA data challenge in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Abbott B (2008) First joint search for gravitational-wave bursts in LIGO and GEO 600 data in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Accadia T (2010) Noise from scattered light in Virgo's second science run data in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Babak S (2010) The Mock LISA Data Challenges: from challenge 3 to challenge 4 in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Armano M (2009) LISA Pathfinder: the experiment and the route to LISA in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Cadonati L (2009) Status of NINJA: the Numerical INJection Analysis project in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Punturo M (2010) The Einstein Telescope: a third-generation gravitational wave observatory in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Baggio L (2008) A joint search for gravitational wave bursts with AURIGA and LIGO in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Gair J (2009) Probing seed black holes using future gravitational-wave detectors in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Hild S (2009) DC-readout of a signal-recycled gravitational wave detector in Classical and Quantum Gravity