A Programme of Astrophysics, Cosmology and Technology in Cardiff 2016-19
Lead Research Organisation:
CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Department Name: School of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
We propose a programme of Astrophysics, Cosmology and Technology development for Astrophysics and Cosmology, to investigate star and planet formation in our own and other galaxies, and how galaxies form and evolve. This programme will combine observational data from world-class ground and space-based observatories, as well as theoretical modelling and simulations of the processes that result in the Universe we observe around us. We will also continue to develop the world's most sensitive detectors for very long infrared wavelengths, along with associated optical components utilising 'metamaterials' the class of materials designed and manufactured by human beings to have the properties best suited to their task, rather than relying on naturally occurring minerals and plastics. Both of these areas of technology development potentially have wide applications outside of Astronomy, in areas such as security scanners and bio-medical imaging for example. The technologies used for imaging can also be extended to undertake spectroscopy, and we propose a programme to develop the capability to obtain a spectrum of every point in a large area image of the sky, which is essential for understanding how far away the objects found in deep surveys are, but also what the conditions in the gas that make up these objects are.
Planned Impact
The technology programme proposed here will have extensive impact outside of astronomy. Firstly in other academic subject areas such as Earth-observing where the technology is used to look downwards or sideways through the atmosphere rather than upwards, but also in bio-medical imaging, where the Far-infrared wavelength range has many spectral features, and is currently being used in collaboration with the School of Optometry in Cardiff to assess corneal damage, for example. Secondly we also plan to exploit the technology commercially, through the spinout company QMCI (www.terahertz.co.uk) which operates from within the School, with broad applications from fast plasma diagnostic systems in use in Fusion experiments, through laboratory spectroscopy across a wide range of chemistry and materials applications, through to security imaging. We also plan a very strong Outreach programme across both the technology developments and the observational and theoretical astrophysics and cosmology programme, following on from the skills developed during the very successful Herschel/Planck outreach programme, with web-based and standard media information releases, but also tied in with Open days, school visits, and going out into schools and colleges to give presentations and host workshops. This work is closely aligned also with the in-house science communication company Science Made Simple.
Publications
Ade PA
(2016)
Improved Constraints on Cosmology and Foregrounds from BICEP2 and Keck Array Cosmic Microwave Background Data with Inclusion of 95 GHz Band.
in Physical review letters
Gruppioni C
(2017)
Tracing the Evolution of Dust Obscured Star Formation and Accretion Back to the Reionisation Epoch with SPICA
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Egami E
(2018)
Probing the high-redshift universe with SPICA: Toward the epoch of reionisation and beyond
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Kaneda H
(2017)
Unbiased Large Spectroscopic Surveys of Galaxies Selected by SPICA Using Dust Bands
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Nehrir AR
(2017)
Emerging Technologies and Synergies for Airborne and Space-Based Measurements of Water Vapor Profiles.
in Surveys in geophysics
Doi Y
(2021)
Erratum: "The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Magnetic Fields Associated with a Network of Filaments in NGC 1333" (2020, ApJ, 899, 28)
in The Astrophysical Journal
Doi Y
(2020)
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Magnetic Fields Associated with a Network of Filaments in NGC 1333
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ade P
(2016)
BICEP2/KECK ARRAY. VII. MATRIX BASED E/B SEPARATION APPLIED TO BICEP2 AND THE KECK ARRAY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Kwon W
(2022)
B-fields in Star-forming Region Observations (BISTRO): Magnetic Fields in the Filamentary Structures of Serpens Main
in The Astrophysical Journal
Soam A
(2018)
Magnetic Fields toward Ophiuchus-B Derived from SCUBA-2 Polarization Measurements
in The Astrophysical Journal
Gandilo N
(2016)
SUBMILLIMETER POLARIZATION SPECTRUM IN THE VELA C MOLECULAR CLOUD
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ashton P
(2018)
First Observation of the Submillimeter Polarization Spectrum in a Translucent Molecular Cloud
in The Astrophysical Journal
Santos F
(2017)
Comparing Submillimeter Polarized Emission with Near-infrared Polarization of Background Stars for the Vela C Molecular Cloud
in The Astrophysical Journal
Nagy J
(2017)
A New Limit on CMB Circular Polarization from SPIDER
in The Astrophysical Journal
Henning J
(2018)
Measurements of the Temperature and E-mode Polarization of the CMB from 500 Square Degrees of SPTpol Data
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lyo A
(2021)
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: An 850/450 µm Polarization Study of NGC 2071IR in Orion B
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ngoc N
(2021)
Observations of Magnetic Fields Surrounding LkH a 101 Taken by the BISTRO Survey with JCMT-POL-2
in The Astrophysical Journal
Whitehorn N
(2016)
MILLIMETER TRANSIENT POINT SOURCES IN THE SPTpol 100 SQUARE DEGREE SURVEY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Fissel L
(2016)
BALLOON-BORNE SUBMILLIMETER POLARIMETRY OF THE VELA C MOLECULAR CLOUD: SYSTEMATIC DEPENDENCE OF POLARIZATION FRACTION ON COLUMN DENSITY AND LOCAL POLARIZATION-ANGLE DISPERSION
in The Astrophysical Journal
Könyves V
(2021)
The JCMT BISTRO-2 Survey: The Magnetic Field in the Center of the Rosette Molecular Cloud
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ade P
(2023)
BICEP/Keck. XVII. Line-of-sight Distortion Analysis: Estimates of Gravitational Lensing, Anisotropic Cosmic Birefringence, Patchy Reionization, and Systematic Errors
in The Astrophysical Journal
Simpson C
(2016)
THE ROLE OF COSMIC-RAY PRESSURE IN ACCELERATING GALACTIC OUTFLOWS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hwang J
(2021)
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: The Distribution of Magnetic Field Strengths toward the OMC-1 Region
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ade P
(2016)
Bicep2/ KECK ARRAY VIII: MEASUREMENT OF GRAVITATIONAL LENSING FROM LARGE-SCALE B -MODE POLARIZATION
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ward-Thompson D
(2017)
First Results from BISTRO: A SCUBA-2 Polarimeter Survey of the Gould Belt
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lee Y
(2021)
The JCMT Transient Survey: Four-year Summary of Monitoring the Submillimeter Variability of Protostars
in The Astrophysical Journal
Tang Y
(2019)
Gravity, Magnetic Field, and Turbulence: Relative Importance and Impact on Fragmentation in the Infrared Dark Cloud G34.43+00.24
in The Astrophysical Journal
Kwon J
(2018)
A First Look at BISTRO Observations of the ? Oph-A core
in The Astrophysical Journal
Doi Y
(2021)
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Evidence for Pinched Magnetic Fields in Quiescent Filaments of NGC 1333
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Eswaraiah C
(2021)
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Revealing the Diverse Magnetic Field Morphologies in Taurus Dense Cores with Sensitive Submillimeter Polarimetry
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Kirk H
(2018)
The JCMT Gould Belt Survey: SCUBA-2 Data Reduction Methods and Gaussian Source Recovery Analysis
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Rowe S
(2016)
A passive terahertz video camera based on lumped element kinetic inductance detectors.
in The Review of scientific instruments
Bryan S
(2016)
A cryogenic rotation stage with a large clear aperture for the half-wave plates in the Spider instrument.
in The Review of scientific instruments
Team H
(2017)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (Oliver+, 2012)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Arzoumanian D.
(2021)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: NGC6334 850um I, Q, U Stokes parameter maps (Arzoumanian+, 2021)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Ward-Thompson D.
(2018)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: LDN 1495 SCUBA-2 and Herschel data (Ward-Thompson+, 2016)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Marsh K. A.
(2017)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: Dense cores in Taurus L1495 cloud (Marsh+, 2016)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Rayner T.
(2017)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: Monoceros R2 filament hub FIR observations (Rayner+, 2017)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Duarte-Cabral A
(2020)
The SEDIGISM survey: Molecular clouds in the inner Galaxy
Mot B
(2019)
PILOT optical alignment
Description | Astronomy Grants |
Amount | £2,212,225 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ST/K000926/1 |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2013 |
End | 04/2016 |
Description | The Simons Observatory |
Organisation | Simons Observatory |
Country | Chile |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Within this award the following are members of the Simons Observatory: Prof Carole Tucker, Prof Peter Ade, Dr Erminia Callabrese, Dr Enzo Pascale, Dr Rashmi Sudiwala. The following have the status, 'Motivated Observer', Dr Simon Doyle, Prof Peter Hargrave, Dr Giampaolo Pisano. Dr Erminia Calabrese is a member of the Simons Observatory Theory and Analysis Committee (SOTAC); Profs Tucker and Ade & Dr Pascale are members of technical working groups. Cardiff technology, funded through successive STFC grants enables the control of the thermal and optical environment on this large scale Submm telescope. |
Collaborator Contribution | The Simons Observatory will fund infrastructure upgrade to existing STFC funded facilities for the manufacture of quasi optical components to very large sizes (700 mm). Cardiff STFC-funded academics will be authors of forthcoming scientific papers by the SO team. |
Impact | Outputs will be in future - during instrument build and then first light - from 2020. |
Start Year | 2017 |