UCL Astrophysics Consolidated Grant 2012-2015

In the last twenty-five years, the world of astronomy has been turned upside down. We now know that not only is our universe expanding, but that it is expanding at an ever-increasing rate. Fuelled by a mysterious driver called Dark Energy - galaxies, such as our Milky Way, are rushing away from each other at such enormous acceleration that not even the powerful force of gravity can hold the universe together.

The researchers of UCL's Astrophysics Group are putting to the test these discoveries with their ambitious programme of research for the coming years. A map of 300 million galaxies that astronomers will put together using the Dark Energy Survey over the next decade will be combined with a new chart of the Cosmic Microwave Background from the Planck satellite to understand the conditions in the early universe, to detect the tiny mass of the Neutrino particle and to test Einstein's theory of general Relativity on the largest scales.

At the other end of the astronomical scale, 25 years ago we knew only of the planets in our own Solar System - eight by today's count, with minor planets like Pluto, Charon and Ceres, along with asteroids and comets. Today the score is over 2000 and counting, thanks to the discovery of extra-solar planets, i.e. planets orbiting stars other than our own Sun. So are these "exo-planets" like the ones we already know? Are these exoplanet systems like our planetary system? So far, the answer is "no", and UCL's programme also contains projects to find out just what exo-planets are like, what their atmospheres are made of, and how they behave in conditions very different from those affecting our Earth and its nearest neighbours.

And in between these two extremes, our projects will probe the giant magnetic fields that surround planets like Jupiter and Saturn, and how these interact with the planet's atmosphere. Exo-planets may also have such magnetic fields; knowing how they work in our Solar System will help us understand and even detect exo-planetary systems.

We will probe just how stars and the planets around them form from vast gas and dust clouds, and how the chemistry that goes on between the stars affects and controls those crucial processes. UCL's astrophysics team will also look at the death of stars in giant explosions called supernovas and how, in dying, huge stars pour their hearts back out into the galaxy, enriching them with the gas, dust and chemical soups required to make new stars, new planets and even new life.

None of this can be done unless astronomers continually improve the equipment - the telescopes and their detectors - with which they carry out their studies of the heavens. So UCL's instrument makers will create ever-more sensitive detectors and spectrometers, with better and better optical surfaces, with which to equip the next generation of telescopes and space missions. And astronomers need to model the universe they study with ever more complex mathematical techniques. So UCL's computer experts will generate the sophisticated models, running on the university's supercomputers, to generate the basic molecular data needed, and simulate the conditions in the early universe, the evolving galaxies and the stars and planetary systems that inhabit them.

But all of this will be wasted unless our fellow citizens get to share in the wonder and excitement of our group's work. So Astrophysics@UCL will ensure that its members continue to explain their work through talks and lectures, through public events, and through the media, inspiring the next generation of scientists, helping and challenging industry to develop new technologies, and ensuring that our understanding of the universe becomes ever deeper and wider.

The Group will continue and broaden its current Knowledge Exchange and
Outreach programmes. Knowledge Exchange and transfer of the results of our
innovation will be achieved as follows:
(i) Working through its 3 main spin-out (technology transfer) firms,
Zeeko, OPTICS Glyndyr and Quantemol, through which research level optical
design and manufacturing processes and molecular quantum calculations are
transferred to Industry. Zeeko and OPTICS Glyndyr work closely with
Industry to establishing the link between detailed surface topography and
functional performance to improve performance or reduce cost, or both.
Examples include the semiconductor sector for the polishing of large-area
display components and the possible future transition to photolithography
in the EUV. Quantemol specialises in the area of electron-molecule
collisions and plasma modelling, particularly the etching of semiconductor
materials, which utilises molecules that do not react with silicon
surfaces unless they are subjected to electronic collisions;

(ii) Providing accurate and complete molecular data to Industry and
climate research programmes - this has proved particularly successful with
our water linelists which are used by industry - there is much outside
interest in our ongoing calculations for methane;

(iii) Working with commerce, research design labs and other academic areas
to produce new detector technology and IT (hardware and software)
solutions, which will produce new research results but will be
transferrable to Industry and academic areas such as BioMedicine;

(iv) work with leading IT vendors to test and design new hardware and
software solutions which will eventually end up in the marketplace.

The Group's Outreach programme will build on its current programme: (i)
writing and appearing in documentary series that are aired on national
television, writing popular astronomy text books aimed at particular key
stages of the national curriculum and organising and contributing to
regular astronomy festivals (Your Universe and Stars R Us); (ii) speaking
at schools, local and national Astronomy associations and local and
national media, such as local radio and BBC news - in particular we will
build on our excellent talks on Spectroscopy, using the topic of
Exoplanets, which is successfully imparting challenging concepts in
quantum mechanics to our young people; (iii) offering work experience
places to 16-18 year olds from inner London Boroughs to encourage them to
think seriously about careers in STEM subjects; (iv) providing online
content and on-line modelling applications to the media and public in the
area of Exoplanets via the EuroPlanet Project to foster increased public
interest in Astronomy; (v) providing hands-on activities and tours for the
public using the UCL Mill Hill Observatory; (vi) speaking regularly to
opinion formers in the RAS, IOP, Parliament, the European Parliament, the
Civil Service and in Industry and Commerce about both the value of
academic research and possible spin outs into other sectors of the
knowledge economy; (vii) communicating and interacting regularly with
academic colleagues from computer science and BioMedicine, with whom we
share many technical interests, particularly in the area of the processing
and analysis of large wide-field images.

A Consolidated Grant will allow us to monitor and manage these impact
activities more effectively and improve our already active internal and
external collaborative culture by reducing barriers such as
compartmentalisation between research areas and improving communication
between applied researchers and theoretical researchers.