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
Acernese F
(2010)
Performances of the Virgo interferometer longitudinal control system
in Astroparticle Physics
Punturo M
(2010)
The Einstein Telescope: a third-generation gravitational wave observatory
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Abbott B
(2010)
SEARCH FOR GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE BURSTS ASSOCIATED WITH GAMMA-RAY BURSTS USING DATA FROM LIGO SCIENCE RUN 5 AND VIRGO SCIENCE RUN 1
in The Astrophysical Journal
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
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
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
Abadie J
(2010)
SEARCH FOR GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE INSPIRAL SIGNALS ASSOCIATED WITH SHORT GAMMA-RAY BURSTS DURING LIGO'S FIFTH AND VIRGO'S FIRST SCIENCE RUN
in The Astrophysical Journal
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
Mapelli M
(2010)
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES FROM INTERMEDIATE-MASS BLACK HOLES IN YOUNG CLUSTERS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Pérez-González P
(2010)
Improving the identification of high- z Herschel sources with position priors and optical/NIR and FIR/mm photometric redshifts
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Abbott B
(2010)
SEARCHES FOR GRAVITATIONAL WAVES FROM KNOWN PULSARS WITH SCIENCE RUN 5 LIGO DATA
in The Astrophysical Journal
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
Punturo M
(2010)
The third generation of gravitational wave observatories and their science reach
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Acernese F
(2010)
Measurements of Superattenuator seismic isolation by Virgo interferometer
in Astroparticle Physics
Sesana A
(2010)
Gravitational waves and pulsar timing: stochastic background, individual sources and parameter estimation
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Goodger J
(2010)
LONG-TERM MONITORING OF THE DYNAMICS AND PARTICLE ACCELERATION OF KNOTS IN THE JET OF CENTAURUS A
in The Astrophysical Journal
Cuevas-Tello J
(2010)
Uncovering delayed patterns in noisy and irregularly sampled time series: An astronomy application
in Pattern Recognition
Böhringer H
(2010)
Substructure of the galaxy clusters in the REXCESS sample: observed statistics and comparison to numerical simulations
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Blomme J
(2010)
AUTOMATED CLASSIFICATION OF VARIABLE STARS IN THE ASTEROSEISMOLOGY PROGRAM OF THE KEPLER SPACE MISSION
in The Astrophysical Journal
Dariush A
(2010)
The mass assembly of galaxy groups and the evolution of the magnitude gap
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chaplin W
(2010)
THE ASTEROSEISMIC POTENTIAL OF KEPLER : FIRST RESULTS FOR SOLAR-TYPE STARS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Haines C
(2010)
LoCuSS: Shedding new light on the massive lensing cluster Abell 1689 - the view from Herschel
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Rawle T
(2010)
Deep Herschel view of obscured star formation in the Bullet cluster
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Bai L
(2010)
THE FIRST MID-INFRARED VIEW OF THE STAR-FORMING PROPERTIES OF NEARBY GALAXY GROUPS
in The Astrophysical Journal
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
Pribulla T
(2011)
The nearby eclipsing stellar system d Velorum II. First reliable orbit for the eclipsing pair???
in Astronomy & Astrophysics