Birmingham Astrophysics- Rolling Grant 2010-2015
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
- University of Birmingham (Lead Research Organisation)
- National Center for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS) (Collaboration)
- Max Planck Society (Collaboration)
- University of Amsterdam (Collaboration)
- University of Manchester (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW (Collaboration)
- National Institute for Astrophysics (Collaboration)
Publications
Abbott B
(2019)
Narrow-band search for gravitational waves from known pulsars using the second LIGO observing run
in Physical Review D
Abbott B
(2019)
Properties of the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817
in Physical Review X
Abbott B
(2020)
A guide to LIGO-Virgo detector noise and extraction of transient gravitational-wave signals
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Abbott B
(2019)
Tests of general relativity with the binary black hole signals from the LIGO-Virgo catalog GWTC-1
in Physical Review D
Abbott BP
(2018)
GW170817: Implications for the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background from Compact Binary Coalescences.
in Physical review letters
Abbott BP
(2019)
Constraining the p-Mode-g-Mode Tidal Instability with GW170817.
in Physical review letters
Abbott BP
(2017)
Erratum: Upper Limits on the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background from Advanced LIGO's First Observing Run [Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 121101 (2017)].
in Physical review letters
Abbott BP
(2020)
Prospects for observing and localizing gravitational-wave transients with Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA.
in Living reviews in relativity
Abbott R
(2020)
Gravitational-wave Constraints on the Equatorial Ellipticity of Millisecond Pulsars
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Burns E
(2019)
A Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor Search for Electromagnetic Signals Coincident with Gravitational-wave Candidates in Advanced LIGO's First Observing Run
in The Astrophysical Journal
Carbone L
(2013)
The generation of higher-order Laguerre-Gauss optical beams for high-precision interferometry.
in Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE
Driggers J
(2019)
Improving astrophysical parameter estimation via offline noise subtraction for Advanced LIGO
in Physical Review D
Howard T
(2013)
The Solar Mass Ejection Imager and Its Heliospheric Imaging Legacy
in Space Science Reviews
LIGO Scientific Collaboration And The Virgo Collaboration
(2017)
A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant.
in Nature
Perera B
(2019)
The International Pulsar Timing Array: second data release
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| Description | This award supports a wide range of work concerned with open questions in cluster cosmology, astrophysics and compact objects and experimental probes through gravitational-wave observations of the most compact objects in the universe (black holes and neutron stars) and novel experimental techniques to maximise the performance of laser interferometers as gravitational wave observatories. This work has contributed to the direct detection of gravitational waves, the first observation of a binary black hole and the first observation of a binary neutron star merger. |
| Exploitation Route | The results form the basis for further studies of the behaviour of gravity in extreme condition and the use of galaxy clusters as cosmological probes. It also opens a new era in astronomy |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Other |
| URL | https://losc.ligo.org/events |
| Description | public engagement, increasing pupils and students interest in STEM subjects, and development of mobile apps for education |
| First Year Of Impact | 2010 |
| Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | Astrophysics at the University of Birmingham |
| Amount | £1,830,268 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ST/S000305/1 |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2019 |
| End | 03/2022 |
| Description | Gravitational Wave Excellence Through Alliance Training (GrEAT) Network with China |
| Amount | £6,405 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | n/a |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2018 |
| End | 12/2020 |
| Description | Newton STFC Capacity Building ith LIGO-India |
| Amount | £7,951 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2017 |
| End | 05/2020 |
| Title | finesse |
| Description | Frequency domain INterfErometer Simulation SoftwarE |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2007 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | it has allowed design and debug laser interferometers with a simple but powerful tool. It has allowed to simulate many different user-defined optical setups. It has been used for Advanced LIGO |
| URL | http://www.gwoptics.org/finesse/ |
| Description | EPTA |
| Organisation | Max Planck Society |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | analysis of pulsar timing data to search for gravitational waves |
| Collaborator Contribution | provided radio data for gravitational wave searches |
| Impact | there are papers in preparation |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | EPTA |
| Organisation | National Center for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS) |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | analysis of pulsar timing data to search for gravitational waves |
| Collaborator Contribution | provided radio data for gravitational wave searches |
| Impact | there are papers in preparation |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | EPTA |
| Organisation | National Institute for Astrophysics |
| Country | Italy |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | analysis of pulsar timing data to search for gravitational waves |
| Collaborator Contribution | provided radio data for gravitational wave searches |
| Impact | there are papers in preparation |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | EPTA |
| Organisation | University of Amsterdam |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | analysis of pulsar timing data to search for gravitational waves |
| Collaborator Contribution | provided radio data for gravitational wave searches |
| Impact | there are papers in preparation |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | EPTA |
| Organisation | University of Manchester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | analysis of pulsar timing data to search for gravitational waves |
| Collaborator Contribution | provided radio data for gravitational wave searches |
| Impact | there are papers in preparation |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | GEO Collaboration |
| Organisation | Max Planck Society |
| Department | Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Data analysis and instrumental development |
| Collaborator Contribution | Data analysis and instrumental development |
| Impact | Many papers, technology developments, and outreach events |
| Description | GEO Collaboration |
| Organisation | University of Glasgow |
| Department | Physics and Astronomy Department |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Data analysis and instrumental development |
| Collaborator Contribution | Data analysis and instrumental development |
| Impact | Many papers, technology developments, and outreach events |
| Description | Cavalcando le onde gravitazionali a caccia di buchi neri e chissa' cos'altro |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Many questions and requests for further discussion and participation to events |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.mantovascienza.it/2017/09/15/cavalcando-le-onde-gravitazionali-a-caccia-di-buchi-neri-e-c... |
| Description | RAS public lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | about 250 people from the general public attended the public lectures that sparkled interest and questions |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://ras.ac.uk |
| Description | The birth of gravitational wave astronomy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | about 100 people attended the talk that was followed by many questions and conversations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.atomfestival.org.uk/our-team/atom-2017/ |