Astrophysics and Cosmology at the University of Sussex
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sussex
Department Name: Sch of Mathematical & Physical Sciences
Abstract
This grant supports a rolling programme of research at the University of Sussex with 3 main themes: * Cosmology Observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) with the WMAP satellite have placed strong constraints on cosmological models, including those of inflation. Future experiments will probe gravitational wave production in the early universe. Sussex has been, and will continue to be, at the forefront of this field. Models of hybrid inflation end in phase transitions at which topological defects can form, including strings, textures and semi-local strings. We will make predictions for their effect on the CMBR. We have developed a rigorous framework for model comparisons. We will apply this to inflationary models, the reionisation history of the Universe, survey design, etc. One of the key questions in cosmology is the nature of the dark energy that dominates the energy density of the Universe. We will explore this question both theoretically and using data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES), Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) and ESO VST and VISTA surveys. * Clusters We will combine large observational and simulated cluster surveys to provide strong constraints on both cosmology and the physics of galaxy and cluster formation. Sussex is leading the XMM Cluster Survey (XCS) that has over 2000 cluster candidates and is expected to produce the largest ever homogeneous cluster sample, including many at high redshift. The evolution and large-scale distribution of clusters will provide strong constraints on cosmological models. The Millennium Gas simulations are the largest ever hydrodynamical simulations of clusters and provide an unrivalled catalogue of mock clusters for comparison with the observations. A variety of physical models for energy injection into the intracluster and intergalactic media can be tested, including supernovae/galaxy formation and active galactic nuclei. * Galaxies We are major contributors to a large number of deep surveys of forming galaxies. The most notable of these is the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) that consists of 6 separate surveys of different depths and areas. Roughly half the light emitted by stars in the Universe has been absorbed by dust and re-radiated in the far infra-red. HerMES will provide a legacy study of the far infra-red galaxy populations and characterise the contribution of different redshifts, luminosities and environments to the star-formation history of the Universe. Complementary near-infrared data, essential for estimating reliable photometric redshifts, will be provided by UKIDSS DXS/UDS and VISTA VIDEO surveys. We are embarking on a new programme of 'hybrid modelling' that combines observations and theoretical models of galaxy formation using techniques borrowed from observational cosmology. We will use bayesian parameter estimation and models selection to constrain the models by direct comparison with observations, eliminating the need for intermediate phenomenological models such as luminosity functions.
Publications
Dias M
(2010)
On the possibility of braneworld quintessential inflation
in Physical Review D
Dias M
(2012)
Multifield consequences for D-brane inflation
Dias M
(2012)
Multifield consequences for D-brane inflation
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Dixon K
(2020)
Predictions for measuring the 21-cm multifrequency angular power spectrum using SKA-Low
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dixon K
(2015)
The large-scale observational signatures of low-mass galaxies during reionization
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dixon K
(2018)
Reionization of the Milky Way, M31, and their satellites - I. Reionization history and star formation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dye S
(2010)
Herschel -ATLAS: Evolution of the 250 µm luminosity function out to z = 0.5
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Eales S
(2010)
Mapping the interstellar medium in galaxies with Herschel /SPIRE
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Eales S
(2010)
First results from HerMES on the evolution of the submillimetre luminosity function
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Eales S.
(2010)
The Herschel ATLAS
in PUBLICATIONS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC
Elbaz D
(2010)
Herschel unveils a puzzling uniformity of distant dusty galaxies
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Elliston J
(2011)
Evolution of f NL to the adiabatic limit
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
ELLISTON J
(2012)
EVOLUTION OF NON-GAUSSIANITY IN MULTI-SCALAR FIELD MODELS
in International Journal of Modern Physics A
Farrah D
(2010)
THE EXTRAORDINARY MID-INFRARED SPECTRAL PROPERTIES OF FeLoBAL QUASARS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Farrah D
(2009)
MID-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY OF OPTICALLY FAINT EXTRAGALACTIC 70 µM SOURCES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Farrah D
(2009)
AN EVOLUTIONARY PARADIGM FOR DUSTY ACTIVE GALAXIES AT LOW REDSHIFT
in The Astrophysical Journal
Fernandez E
(2013)
A NOVEL APPROACH TO CONSTRAIN THE ESCAPE FRACTION AND DUST CONTENT AT HIGH REDSHIFT USING THE COSMIC INFRARED BACKGROUND FRACTIONAL ANISOTROPY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Fernandez E
(2012)
THE COSMIC NEAR INFRARED BACKGROUND. III. FLUCTUATIONS, REIONIZATION, AND THE EFFECTS OF MINIMUM MASS AND SELF-REGULATION
in The Astrophysical Journal
Fernandez E
(2014)
Stars and reionization: the cross-correlation of the 21 cm line and the near-infrared background
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Finoguenov A
(2010)
X-ray groups and clusters of galaxies in the Subaru-XMM Deep Field
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fiolet N
(2009)
Multi-wavelength properties of Spitzer selected starbursts at z ~ 2
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Fiolet N
(2010)
Mid-infrared spectroscopy of Spitzer -selected ultra-luminous starbursts at z ~ 2
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Frazer J
(2010)
Stability of multifield cosmological solutions in the presence of a fluid
in Physical Review D
Frazer J
(2011)
Exploring a string-like landscape
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Frazer J
(2012)
Multi-field inflation with random potentials: field dimension, feature scale and non-Gaussianity
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Frazer J
(2011)
Exploring a string-like landscape
Friedrich M
(2012)
Radiative transfer of energetic photons: X-rays and helium ionization in C2-Ray X-rays and helium ionization in C2-Ray
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Galametz M
(2010)
Herschel photometric observations of the nearby low metallicity irregular galaxy NGC 6822
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Gao C
(2010)
Unified dark energy and dark matter from a scalar field different from quintessence
in Physical Review D
Garn T
(2010)
Obscured star formation at z = 0.84 with HiZELS: the relationship between star formation rate and Ha or ultraviolet dust extinction
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Giri S
(2019)
Neutral island statistics during reionization from 21-cm tomography
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Glenn J
(2010)
HerMES: deep galaxy number counts from a P(D) fluctuation analysis of SPIRE Science Demonstration Phase observations HerMES P(D) fluctuation analysis
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gomez H
(2010)
The dust morphology of the elliptical Galaxy M 86 with SPIRE
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Griffen B
(2010)
Globular cluster formation within the Aquarius simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Griffen B
(2013)
The inhomogeneous reionization of the local intergalactic medium by metal-poor globular clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Griffin M
(2010)
The Herschel -SPIRE instrument and its in-flight performance
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Gronke M
(2021)
Lyman-a transmission properties of the intergalactic medium in the CoDaII simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Haberzettl L
(2009)
THE CLOWES-CAMPUSANO LARGE QUASAR GROUP SURVEY. I. GALEX SELECTED SAMPLE OF LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES AT z ~ 1
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hardcastle M
(2010)
Herschel-ATLAS: far-infrared properties of radio-selected galaxies? Herschel-ATLAS: radio-selected galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Harnois-Deraps J
(2013)
High-performance P3M N-body code: CUBEP3M
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Harrison C
(2012)
The XMM Cluster Survey: The Stellar Mass Assembly of Fossil Galaxies
Harrison C
(2012)
THE XMM CLUSTER SURVEY: THE STELLAR MASS ASSEMBLY OF FOSSIL GALAXIES
in The Astrophysical Journal
| Description | Astronomy responsive grants |
| Amount | £2,994,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2011 |
| End | 03/2015 |
| Description | EPSRC novel technologies |
| Amount | £1,200,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/I036575/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2011 |
| End | 08/2015 |
| Description | COSMOS |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Department | Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Sussex is a member of this multi-institution collaboration ( too many collaborators to list) runnign a large HPC facility |
| Collaborator Contribution | Training of researchers in high-performance computation |
| Impact | Publications as in individual applicant lists |
| Description | GAMA: Galaxies and Mass Assembly |
| Organisation | University of St Andrews |
| Department | School of Physics and Astronomy |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Sussex is a member of this large collaboration (too many members to list) |
| Impact | Publications as in individual applicant list |
| Description | HerMES: Herschel Multi-Tiered Extragalactic Survey |
| Organisation | California Institute of Technology |
| Department | Infrared Processing and Analysis Center |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Sussex co-leads this project which has a very large number of international partners, far too many to list. |
| Impact | Publications as in applicant list |
| Description | VIRGO |
| Organisation | Durham University |
| Department | Department of Physics |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Sussex is a member of this supercomputing consortium, which contains too many partners to list. |
| Impact | Publications as in individual applicant lists |
| Description | XCS: XMM cluster survey |
| Organisation | Liverpool John Moores University |
| Department | Astrophysics Research Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Sussex lead this multi-institution collaboration (too many partners to list) creating a galaxy cluster catalogue using archival XMM satellite data |
| Impact | Publications as detailed in appiicant lists |
| Description | Sussex outreach programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | We have a wide ranging programme of outreach featuring hundreds of separate activities operated by a dedicated outreach officer. Many tens of these are directly relevant to this funded grant, far too many to attempt to list here. We have had several thousand schoolchildren covered by our outreach programmes, using a wide range of the methods listed in box 5.9, that however only lets me select one option. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008,2009,2010,2011 |