Theoretical Cosmology
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Oxford Physics
Abstract
We have a broad brush picture of the evolution of the Universe which has consistently stood up to experimental and observational scrutiny. With Einstein's theory of gravity we are able to explain the expansion of recession of galaxies, the presence of a residual bath of relic radiation and the rough abundances of the light elements. Within the auspices of this grant we wish to subject this model to more detailed scrutiny and in doing so, construct a detailed understanding of the physical processes that come into play on an immense range of scales. On the various largest scales, we can use the roughness in the relic radiation to extract the information about the nature of space time and energy when the Universe was in it infancy. Specifically we can now try and detect the background of ripples in space-time, called gravity waves, by looking for particular distortions in relic light. To do so, we must come up with clever algorithms that can cope with the extremely large data sets and extract weak signals. It will be necessary to separate out what is truly due to the gravity waves from other sources of radiation which will contaminate the signal. With such precise data sets, and including other cosmic observables such as the way that galaxies move towards or away from each other, it should be possible to probe and peruse our standard theory and see if there is any evidence for deviations from it. This holistic approach will also allows us to learn more about the nature of the matter and energy that fills the Universe. On smaller scales, we must focus on the building blocks of structure: galaxies. These are extremely complex organisms that a host a wide range of physical process from gravitational to chemical. We will tackle this problem in a variety of ways. At the smallest scales we will work with extremely accurate numerical models of how the different physical process occur and how they trigger the formation of stars. These are complemented by analytical models which are technically much simpler but will allow us to explore a much wider range of environments, from now all the way back to the past when the Universe is much denser and hotter. There is now compelling evidence that there very massive black holes inhabiting at the centres of galaxies. We wish to study this novel and unique observational phenomena and study its theoretical implications. In particular we wish to, once again, study how the existence of black holes drives the formation and evolution of galaxies and how their presence may be tested in a number of observational ways.
Organisations
Publications
Pipino A
(2009)
GALICS. II: the [ a /Fe] -mass relation in elliptical galaxies
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Dubois Y
(2009)
Influence of AGN jets on the magnetized ICM
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Clifton T
(2009)
Errors in estimating O ? due to the fluid approximation
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Clifton T
(2009)
Archipelagian cosmology: Dynamics and observables in a universe with discretized matter content
in Physical Review D
Clifton T
(2009)
What the small angle CMB really tells us about the curvature of the Universe
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Tonini C
(2009)
The impact of thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch stars on hierarchical galaxy formation models
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Sutton D
(2009)
Map making in small field modulated CMB polarization experiments: approximating the maximum likelihood method
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tweed D
(2009)
Building merger trees from cosmological N -body simulations Towards improving galaxy formation models using subhaloes
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Kaviraj S
(2009)
Identifying the progenitor set of present-day early-type galaxies: a view from the standard model
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Bañados M
(2009)
Eddington-Born-Infeld gravity and the large scale structure of the Universe
in Physical Review D
Ferreira PG
(2009)
Einstein's theory of gravity and the problem of missing mass.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
{Tonini}, C. And {Maraston}, C. And {Thomas}, D. And {Devriendt}, J. And {Silk}, J.
(2009)
The First Galaxy Formation Model including the TP-AGB Stellar Phase
{Gay}, C. And {Pichon}, C. And {Borgne}, D.~L. And {Teyssier}, R. And {Sousbie}, T. And {Devriendt}, J.
(2010)
Horizon MareNostrum cosmological run (Gay+, 2010)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Marsh D
(2010)
Ultralight scalar fields and the growth of structure in the Universe
in Physical Review D
Devriendt J
(2010)
The dusty, albeit ultraviolet bright, infancy of galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Sutton D
(2010)
Fast and precise map-making for massively multi-detector CMB experiments Fast and precise map-making
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tonini C
(2010)
Hierarchical models of high-redshift galaxies with thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch stars: comparison with observations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dubois Y
(2010)
Jet-regulated cooling catastrophe Jet-regulated cooling catastrophe
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ferreira P
(2010)
Linear growth rate of structure in parametrized post-Friedmannian universes
in Physical Review D
Bañados M
(2010)
Eddington's theory of gravity and its progeny.
in Physical review letters
Dubois Y
(2010)
Magnetised winds in dwarf galaxies
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Prokhorov D
(2010)
An analysis of the temperature structure of galaxy clusters by means of the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Zuntz J
(2010)
Vector field models of modified gravity and the dark sector
in Physical Review D
Macaulay E
(2011)
A slight excess of large-scale power from moments of the peculiar velocity field Large-scale power from velocity moments
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tonini C
(2011)
The hierarchical build-up of the Tully-Fisher relation The hierarchical build-up of the TF relation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society