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
Parkin E
(2009)
3D modelling of the colliding winds in ? Carinae - evidence for radiative inhibition
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bardeau S
(2007)
A CFH12k lensing survey of X-ray luminous galaxy clusters II. Weak lensing analysis and global correlations
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
O'Sullivan E
(2009)
A CHANDRA X-RAY VIEW OF STEPHAN'S QUINTET: SHOCKS AND STAR FORMATION
in The Astrophysical Journal
George S
(2008)
A deep 150 MHz Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope survey in Eridanus
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
Baggio L
(2008)
A joint search for gravitational wave bursts with AURIGA and LIGO
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Hild S
(2007)
A novel concept for increasing the peak sensitivity of LIGO by detuning the arm cavities
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
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
Sanderson A
(2009)
A statistically selected Chandra sample of 20 galaxy clusters - II. Gas properties and cool core/non-cool core bimodality
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hild S
(2010)
A xylophone configuration for a third-generation gravitational wave detector
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Abbott BP
(2009)
All-sky LIGO search for periodic gravitational waves in the early fifth-science-run data.
in Physical review letters
Abadie J
(2010)
All-sky search for gravitational-wave bursts in the first joint LIGO-GEO-Virgo run
in Physical Review D
Abbott B
(2008)
All-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in LIGO S4 data
in Physical Review D
LIGO Scientific Collaboration & Virgo Collaboration
(2009)
An upper limit on the stochastic gravitational-wave background of cosmological origin.
in Nature
Veitch J
(2008)
Assigning confidence to inspiral gravitational wave candidates with Bayesian model selection
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Tarrant N
(2007)
Asteroseismology of red giants: photometric observations of Arcturus by SMEI
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Abbott B
(2008)
Astrophysically triggered searches for gravitational waves: status and prospects
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Blomme J
(2010)
AUTOMATED CLASSIFICATION OF VARIABLE STARS IN THE ASTEROSEISMOLOGY PROGRAM OF THE KEPLER SPACE MISSION
in The Astrophysical Journal
Veitch J
(2008)
Bayesian approach to the follow-up of candidate gravitational wave signals
in Physical Review D
Veitch J
(2010)
Bayesian coherent analysis of in-spiral gravitational wave signals with a detector network
in Physical Review D
Aylott B
(2009)
Bayesian inference on the Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) data set using a nested sampling algorithm
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Russell P
(2007)
Bayesian modelling of the cool core galaxy group NGC 4325
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Abadie J
(2010)
Calibration of the LIGO gravitational wave detectors in the fifth science run
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Gitti M
(2010)
CAVITIES AND SHOCKS IN THE GALAXY GROUP HCG 62 AS REVEALED BY CHANDRA , XMM-NEWTON , AND GIANT METREWAVE RADIO TELESCOPE DATA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Posson-Brown J
(2009)
CHANDRA OBSERVATIONS OF THE X-RAY POINT SOURCE POPULATION IN NGC 4636
in The Astrophysical Journal
Acernese F
(2009)
Cleaning the Virgo sampled data for the search of periodic sources of gravitational waves
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Bergé J
(2008)
Combined analysis of weak lensing and X-ray blind surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Accadia T
(2010)
Commissioning status of the Virgo interferometer
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Johnson R
(2009)
COMPARING X-RAY AND DYNAMICAL MASS PROFILES IN THE EARLY-TYPE GALAXY NGC 4636
in The Astrophysical Journal
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
Hild S
(2009)
DC-readout of a signal-recycled gravitational wave detector
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Rawle T
(2010)
Deep Herschel view of obscured star formation in the Bullet cluster
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Carbone L
(2009)
Design of high-density electron spin-polarized test masses
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Stello D
(2010)
DETECTION OF SOLAR-LIKE OSCILLATIONS FROM KEPLER PHOTOMETRY OF THE OPEN CLUSTER NGC 6819
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hammond GD
(2008)
Development of a second generation torsion balance based on a spherical superconducting suspension.
in The Review of scientific instruments
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
Hekker S
(2010)
DISCOVERY OF A RED GIANT WITH SOLAR-LIKE OSCILLATIONS IN AN ECLIPSING BINARY SYSTEM FROM KEPLER SPACE-BASED PHOTOMETRY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abbott B
(2009)
Einstein@Home search for periodic gravitational waves in early S5 LIGO data
in Physical Review D
Abbott B
(2009)
Einstein@Home search for periodic gravitational waves in LIGO S4 data
in Physical Review D
Abbott B
(2009)
ERRATUM: "BEATING THE SPIN-DOWN LIMIT ON GRAVITATIONAL WAVE EMISSION FROM THE CRAB PULSAR" (2008, ApJ, 683, L45)
in The Astrophysical Journal
Jetha N
(2007)
Erratum: Active galactic nuclei heating in the centres of galaxy groups: a statistical study
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Abbott B
(2009)
Erratum: All-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in LIGO S4 data [Phys. Rev. D 77 , 022001 (2008)]
in Physical Review D
Willems B
(2008)
Erratum: Probing White Dwarf Interiors with LISA: Periastron Precession In Eccentric Double White Dwarfs [Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 , 041102 (2008)]
in Physical Review Letters
Muno M
(2007)
Exciting the magnetosphere of the magnetar CXOU J164710.2-455216 in Westerlund 1
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Fulda P
(2010)
Experimental demonstration of higher-order Laguerre-Gauss mode interferometry
in Physical Review D
Abbott B
(2007)
First cross-correlation analysis of interferometric and resonant-bar gravitational-wave data for stochastic backgrounds
in Physical Review D
Zemcov M
(2010)
First detection of the Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect increment at ? < 650 µ m
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Abbott B
(2008)
First joint search for gravitational-wave bursts in LIGO and GEO 600 data
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Abbott B
(2009)
First LIGO search for gravitational wave bursts from cosmic (super)strings
in Physical Review D