Astrophysics and Cosmology Research within the JBCA 2017-2020
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
This grant supports the research of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. Our research is a divided into 3 groups. There are too many specific proposals to describe in detail, do below we have given a brief layman's explanation of the work being carried out by the three groups.
Cosmology: This is the study of the Universe as a whole. The main aim is to understand the processes by which the large scale feature of the Universe formed and to constrain the various different kinds of matter that existed within it. These include dark matter and dark energy which are thought to constitute more than 95% of the total. We do this by comparison to observations of weak and strong gravitational lensing which is the distortion of light predicted to be caused by massive objects in Einstein' Theory of General Relativity, the cosmic microwave background which is the faint emission of radiation created at the time when protons and electrons come together to form hydrogen and the emission given off by neutral hydrogen atoms in galaxies. The research we propose here involves both theory and observation as well as the development of the technology necessary to make the observations possible.
Sun, Stars and Galaxies: The researchers in this group study a wide range of astrophysical processes that are reasonable for the formation and evolution of the objects in the name of the group. Specific key areas that the group is interested in are the formation of stars much larger than the Sun and the subsequent evolution, the properties of the so-called interstellar medium (ISM) which comprises molecules not bound to stars and the magnetic fields that permeate space.
Pulsars and Time Domain Astrophysics: The focus of this group is astrophysical signatures that are change with time: things which come on and off, often with some kind of regularity. These include Pulsars which are non-standard star time, known as a neutron star, which is a dead star supported by the quantum pressure of neutrons. The radio emission from these objects pulses on an off with extraordinary regularity allowing them to acts cosmic clocks. The constantly measuring these clocks as the neutron stars spin and move through space, often impacted on by a companion star, allows the most precise constraints on the nature of gravity outside the solar system. Other phenomena studied by this group include Nova explosions, other variable stars, and variability induced by the lensing effects of one star passing in front of another, called microlensing.
Cosmology: This is the study of the Universe as a whole. The main aim is to understand the processes by which the large scale feature of the Universe formed and to constrain the various different kinds of matter that existed within it. These include dark matter and dark energy which are thought to constitute more than 95% of the total. We do this by comparison to observations of weak and strong gravitational lensing which is the distortion of light predicted to be caused by massive objects in Einstein' Theory of General Relativity, the cosmic microwave background which is the faint emission of radiation created at the time when protons and electrons come together to form hydrogen and the emission given off by neutral hydrogen atoms in galaxies. The research we propose here involves both theory and observation as well as the development of the technology necessary to make the observations possible.
Sun, Stars and Galaxies: The researchers in this group study a wide range of astrophysical processes that are reasonable for the formation and evolution of the objects in the name of the group. Specific key areas that the group is interested in are the formation of stars much larger than the Sun and the subsequent evolution, the properties of the so-called interstellar medium (ISM) which comprises molecules not bound to stars and the magnetic fields that permeate space.
Pulsars and Time Domain Astrophysics: The focus of this group is astrophysical signatures that are change with time: things which come on and off, often with some kind of regularity. These include Pulsars which are non-standard star time, known as a neutron star, which is a dead star supported by the quantum pressure of neutrons. The radio emission from these objects pulses on an off with extraordinary regularity allowing them to acts cosmic clocks. The constantly measuring these clocks as the neutron stars spin and move through space, often impacted on by a companion star, allows the most precise constraints on the nature of gravity outside the solar system. Other phenomena studied by this group include Nova explosions, other variable stars, and variability induced by the lensing effects of one star passing in front of another, called microlensing.
Planned Impact
The range of research we undertake and the world-class facilities within and in close association with JBCA (the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, e-MERLIN, the Lovell Telescope, the ALMA ARC and the SKA HQ) will provide key pathways to increasing our already strong impact on UK and global industry, the next generation of scientists and engineers, and the general public. The University's investment in the Jodrell Bank site combined with significant external funding (e.g. from Heritage Lottery Fund) will enable us to expand its use as an iconic venue for public and industrial engagement. The programme described here formed a key part of the School's submission for REF2014, helping it to be ranked highest in the REF for physics impact with 83% at 4* and 17% at 3*. Our outreach \& public engagement programme is extremely strong and continues to grow, particularly through its work with the University's award-winning Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre and the BBC. With the recent decision on SKA HQ location and our strong research work in this area, there is also growing impact in both outreach and industrial engagement in this area.
Our "Pathways to Impact" statement in the case for support outlines things that we have done in recent times under the headings of "Outreach and Public Engagement" and "Industrial and economic impact". We list some highlights below.
- Jodcast: Podcast run by students with 7000 regular listeners.
- 230000 Twitter followers
- Stargazing live
- JB Discovery centre with 150000 visitors per year
- Award winning "Live from Jodrell Bank" rock concerts
- Industry contracts for SKA work including CISCO, AASL, NPL, GEANT
- Newton programme for Radio Astronomy in Africa.
Our "Pathways to Impact" statement in the case for support outlines things that we have done in recent times under the headings of "Outreach and Public Engagement" and "Industrial and economic impact". We list some highlights below.
- Jodcast: Podcast run by students with 7000 regular listeners.
- 230000 Twitter followers
- Stargazing live
- JB Discovery centre with 150000 visitors per year
- Award winning "Live from Jodrell Bank" rock concerts
- Industry contracts for SKA work including CISCO, AASL, NPL, GEANT
- Newton programme for Radio Astronomy in Africa.
Organisations
Publications
Hosenie Z
(2019)
Comparing Multiclass, Binary, and Hierarchical Machine Learning Classification schemes for variable stars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bellini E
(2018)
Comparison of Einstein-Boltzmann solvers for testing general relativity
in Physical Review D
Goldstraw E
(2018)
Comparison of methods for modelling coronal magnetic fields
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Wang J
(2017)
Comparison of pulsar positions from timing and very long baseline astrometry
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Abitbol M
(2018)
Constraining the Anomalous Microwave Emission Mechanism in the S140 Star-forming Region with Spectroscopic Observations between 4 and 8 GHz at the Green Bank Telescope
in The Astrophysical Journal
Caleb M
(2019)
Constraining the era of helium reionization using fast radio bursts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Purser S
(2018)
Constraining the nature of DG Tau A's thermal and non-thermal radio emission
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Perger K
(2018)
Constraining the radio jet proper motion of the high-redshift quasar J2134-0419 at z = 4.3
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tobin T
(2019)
Constraining Theories of Polarized SiO Maser Transport: Multi-epoch Analysis of a p/2 Electric Vector Rotation Feature
in The Astrophysical Journal
Decin L
(2018)
Constraints on Metal Oxide and Metal Hydroxide Abundances in the Winds of AGB Stars: Potential Detection of FeO in R Dor
in The Astrophysical Journal
Thomas D
(2020)
Controlling systematics in ground-based CMB surveys with partial boresight rotation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Reid J
(2018)
Coronal energy release by MHD avalanches: continuous driving
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Liu X
(2019)
Correlated timing noise and high-precision pulsar timing: measuring frequency second derivatives as an example
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Orellana-González G
(2020)
Cosmic evolution of molecular gas mass density from an empirical relationship between L 1.4 GHz and L 'CO
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Abbott TMC
(2019)
Cosmological Constraints from Multiple Probes in the Dark Energy Survey.
in Physical review letters
Thomas D
(2020)
Cosmological gravity on all scales: Simple equations, required conditions, and a framework for modified gravity
in Physical Review D
Loureiro A
(2019)
Cosmological measurements from angular power spectra analysis of BOSS DR12 tomography
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Olivari L
(2018)
Cosmological parameter forecasts for H i intensity mapping experiments using the angular power spectrum
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Battye R
(2017)
Cosmological perturbation theory in generalized Einstein-Aether models
in Physical Review D
Trinh D
(2018)
Cosmologically viable generalized Einstein-Aether theories
Battye R
(2019)
Cosmologically viable generalized Einstein-aether theories
in Physical Review D
Square Kilometre Array Cosmology Science Working Group
(2018)
Cosmology with Phase 1 of the Square Kilometre Array; Red Book 2018: Technical specifications and performance forecasts
Chung D
(2019)
Cross-correlating Carbon Monoxide Line-intensity Maps with Spectroscopic and Photometric Galaxy Surveys
in The Astrophysical Journal
Cárcamo M
(2023)
CS-ROMER: a novel compressed sensing framework for Faraday depth reconstruction
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Abbott T
(2019)
Dark Energy Survey year 1 results: Constraints on extended cosmological models from galaxy clustering and weak lensing
in Physical Review D
Samuroff S
(2019)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 results: constraints on intrinsic alignments and their colour dependence from galaxy clustering and weak lensing
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chang C
(2018)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 results: curved-sky weak lensing mass map
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Crocce M
(2019)
Dark Energy Survey year 1 results: galaxy sample for BAO measurement
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Abbott T
(2019)
Dark Energy Survey year 1 results: Joint analysis of galaxy clustering, galaxy lensing, and CMB lensing two-point functions
in Physical Review D
Abbott T
(2019)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 results: measurement of the baryon acoustic oscillation scale in the distribution of galaxies to redshift 1
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hoyle B
(2018)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: redshift distributions of the weak-lensing source galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Samuroff S
(2018)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 results: the impact of galaxy neighbours on weak lensing cosmology with im3shape
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McClintock T
(2019)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 results: weak lensing mass calibration of redMaPPer galaxy clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zuntz J
(2018)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 results: weak lensing shape catalogues
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Battye R
(2020)
Dark matter axion detection in the radio/mm waveband
in Physical Review D
Battye R
(2019)
Dark matter axion detection in the radio/mm-waveband
Watts A
(2018)
Dense matter with eXTP
in Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy
MacCrann N
(2018)
DES Y1 Results: validating cosmological parameter estimation using simulated Dark Energy Surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nieder L
(2019)
Detection and Timing of Gamma-Ray Pulsations from the 707 Hz Pulsar J0952-0607
in The Astrophysical Journal
Description | The consolidated grant supported a wide range of activities in astrophysics and cosmology at the JBCA. This was based around three areas: cosmology - the study of the Universe as a single entity, pulsars - spinning neutron stars which emit pulse of radio waves at regular intervals, astrophysical processes - the study of galaxy and star formation in the universe. Progress was made in all these areas. |
Exploitation Route | The wide range of work produce by the grant has been published in journals. These papers have received significant citations indicating that all the areas have had an impact within the academic research community. |
Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Other |
Description | The research has been used extensively in the outreach program of the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, which attracts 160,000 visitors per annum and focusses on hard-to-reach audiences. |
First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
Sector | Education |
Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |