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
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
Acernese F
(2010)
Performances of the Virgo interferometer longitudinal control system
in Astroparticle Physics
Acernese F
(2010)
Measurements of Superattenuator seismic isolation by Virgo interferometer
in Astroparticle Physics
Carbone L
(2009)
Design of high-density electron spin-polarized test masses
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Van Der Sluys M
(2008)
Parameter estimation of spinning binary inspirals using Markov chain Monte Carlo
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Accadia T
(2010)
Commissioning status of the Virgo interferometer
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Trias M
(2009)
Studying stellar binary systems with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna using delayed rejection Markov chain Monte Carlo methods
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Babak S
(2008)
The Mock LISA Data Challenges: from Challenge 1B to Challenge 3
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Smith J
(2008)
Measurement and simulation of laser power noise in GEO 600
in Classical and Quantum Gravity