Birmingham Astrophysics: Consolidated Grant 2013-2016

Most of our knowledge about the Universe at large has been derived from what scientists refer to as "electromagnetic radiation" - ranging from radio waves through infrared radiation and light, to X-rays and gamma rays. This is about to change, since we are on the brink of the first detection of the ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves, which are predicted by Einstein's theory of General Relativity. The Birmingham Astrophysics and Space Research Group is playing a key role in these developments, and is preparing to use the signals from merging black holes and neutron stars to learn more about the evolution of stars, and to test our understanding of gravity itself. We are also developing the advanced technology which will be required to make future improvements in detecting
gravitational waves, so that much weaker signals can be studied.

The capabilities of more conventional instruments to probe the distant Universe, and the capacity of large computers to simulate the development of cosmic structures, continue to improve. We are bringing these developments together to advance our understanding of the role of "active galaxies", powered by supermassive black holes, and to study the impact these have on their cosmic environment. A hot topic in astrophysics is the effort to understand the mysterious "dark energy" which powers the accelerating expansion of the Universe. We plan to use clusters of galaxies as probes of the structure and expansion history of the Universe on the largest scales, to advance our understanding of the nature of dark energy.

Within galaxies, the most massive stars have a major impact due to the very high power they radiate, and due to their powerful stellar winds. It is surprisingly difficult to estimate how much matter is streaming away from such stars in a wind, and we plan to combine computer modelling with observations at radio, optical and X-ray wavelengths to improve our understanding of just how big an impact massive stars have on their surroundings.

The wider impact of our work can be grouped under three broad headings.

a) Outreach
We have a very active programme of engaging the public, and especially young people. This includes lectures and hands-on activities at the University, external lectures in schools, local societies and venues such as Cafes Scientifique. We also run masterclasses, quizzes etc specifically for school pupils from the whole Midlands area. We participate in special events, such as "BBC Stargazing Live" and the "Big Bang Fair", and have developed a suite of computer games specially for public outreach.

b) Knowledge exchange
Some of our work, in both our experimental and computational areas, has wider application within the academic and commercial sectors. Good examples are our compact interferometer EUCLID, which has been patented. This can be used for a very wide range of applications where high precision measurements are required. The optics simulation tools developed for the design of gravitational wave detectors have been released as an open source software package. Our collaboration with computer scientists to develop advanced statistical tools for astronomical use is advancing the field in both astronomy and computer science, and is attracting interest from major Indian-based software companies.

c) Training
Our programme provides high quality scientific training, and experience of major international projects, to our PDRAs and PhD students, many of whom will ultimately leave the academic environment and contribute their expertise to the wider job market. Our postgraduate programme under the auspices of the Midlands Physics Alliance Graduate School (MPAGS), includes workshops developing high-level scientific skills of communication, presentation and scientific writing and evaluation. Our technical staff
also develop highly transferable skills by working at the cutting edge of experimental physics.