Astrophysics Research at the University of Leicester
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
We will deliver world-class research programmes in astrophysics through the exploitation of data from space missions and ground based telescopes, as well as the development of new theories and the numerical simulation of processes in these areas. We will also develop new instrumental techniques and detectors for future missions and telescopes. The research programme is based mainly around two research groups, with some participation by three others. These groups conduct their own research projects but also have a strong ethos of collaboration on topics of mutual interest.
Our research seeks to understand basic processes in our own and other galaxies, addressing questions of great interest to the wider public. We will search for new planets orbiting nearby stars which may mimic the planets that are present in our own solar system or possibly be very different, such as hot Neptunes, or Super Earths.
We will investigate some of the most extreme environments in our Universe by high energy astrophysics research focusing on extreme phenomena ranging from Galactic black hole binaries, through to active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts. These studies will include the feedback processes that link black holes to the evolution of their host galaxies.
We will maintain and enhance a programme in stellar astronomy with emphasis on the astrophysics of white dwarf stars. We will be using high performance computers to simulate these systems theoretically. This in turn will help our observations and vice versa. Through these simulations we will build theories and models of how these extreme systems behave. We will use these simulations to try to understand the `dark' matter which constitutes much of the material
content of the Universe. We will use laboratory experimentation to develop new ways to observe these phenomena, building new instruments for the next generation of space missions.
This work also offers spin-off activities which often drive progress in areas far removed from astrophysics. Our department has an active programme of engagement with the wider community, particularly school age children, who are thrilled to hear about research in the Department. We will maintain a strong commitment to knowledge transfer for academic beneficiaries.
Our research seeks to understand basic processes in our own and other galaxies, addressing questions of great interest to the wider public. We will search for new planets orbiting nearby stars which may mimic the planets that are present in our own solar system or possibly be very different, such as hot Neptunes, or Super Earths.
We will investigate some of the most extreme environments in our Universe by high energy astrophysics research focusing on extreme phenomena ranging from Galactic black hole binaries, through to active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts. These studies will include the feedback processes that link black holes to the evolution of their host galaxies.
We will maintain and enhance a programme in stellar astronomy with emphasis on the astrophysics of white dwarf stars. We will be using high performance computers to simulate these systems theoretically. This in turn will help our observations and vice versa. Through these simulations we will build theories and models of how these extreme systems behave. We will use these simulations to try to understand the `dark' matter which constitutes much of the material
content of the Universe. We will use laboratory experimentation to develop new ways to observe these phenomena, building new instruments for the next generation of space missions.
This work also offers spin-off activities which often drive progress in areas far removed from astrophysics. Our department has an active programme of engagement with the wider community, particularly school age children, who are thrilled to hear about research in the Department. We will maintain a strong commitment to knowledge transfer for academic beneficiaries.
Planned Impact
The applicants offer a diverse skill set that constitute a valuable resource to the private and public sectors. We have extensive experience and expertise in e.g. data analysis and handling, spacecraft and mission management, algorithm design, software engineering and high performance computing. Exploitation of this expertise is supported at all levels within the University. The Department of Physics and Astronomy is committed to
promoting and maximising the impact of our research. The College of Science and Engineering plays a leading role in the Enterprise Agenda for the University and offers dedicated enterprise officers and impact enhancing resources. Further support is provided by the University's Enterprise and Business Development Office, which works with academics and external stakeholders to create maximum impact in the local, provide national, and international community. This structure (i) delivers enterprising impact through the alignment of our research with major global and industrial challenges, (ii) identifies and addresses the opportunities to play a positive role in the economic development of our region and the UK, (iii) utilises research and related activities to develop skills and capability within a broad spectrum of the public and private sectors, (iv) provides expert advice and
guidance to industry and policy makers, (v) ensures that its intellectual property is effectively transferred and disseminated, and (vi) contributes to the wider cultural benefit of society through an enterprising and engaging outreach programme.
The long term impact strategy has four elements:
(1) to support and develop the skills and experience of the applicants;
(2) to ensure that links with public and private sector industries are developed, cultivated and maximised;
(3) to disseminate knowledge, skills and expterise to the benefit of the local, national and international business and civic communities;
(4) to sustain and develop our successful outreach programme with particular emphasis on enhancing our efforts to develop valid outcome measures.
promoting and maximising the impact of our research. The College of Science and Engineering plays a leading role in the Enterprise Agenda for the University and offers dedicated enterprise officers and impact enhancing resources. Further support is provided by the University's Enterprise and Business Development Office, which works with academics and external stakeholders to create maximum impact in the local, provide national, and international community. This structure (i) delivers enterprising impact through the alignment of our research with major global and industrial challenges, (ii) identifies and addresses the opportunities to play a positive role in the economic development of our region and the UK, (iii) utilises research and related activities to develop skills and capability within a broad spectrum of the public and private sectors, (iv) provides expert advice and
guidance to industry and policy makers, (v) ensures that its intellectual property is effectively transferred and disseminated, and (vi) contributes to the wider cultural benefit of society through an enterprising and engaging outreach programme.
The long term impact strategy has four elements:
(1) to support and develop the skills and experience of the applicants;
(2) to ensure that links with public and private sector industries are developed, cultivated and maximised;
(3) to disseminate knowledge, skills and expterise to the benefit of the local, national and international business and civic communities;
(4) to sustain and develop our successful outreach programme with particular emphasis on enhancing our efforts to develop valid outcome measures.
Organisations
Publications
MacLeod C
(2016)
A systematic search for changing-look quasars in SDSS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dehnen W
(2017)
Symplectic fourth-order maps for the collisional N -body problem
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lyman J. D.
(2017)
The host galaxies and explosion sites of long-duration gamma ray bursts: Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lamb G
(2018)
Late-time evolution of afterglows from off-axis neutron star mergers
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vines J
(2019)
NGTS-6b: an ultrashort period hot-Jupiter orbiting an old K dwarf
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
De Rijcke S
(2019)
How gravitational softening affects galaxy stability - I. Linear mode analysis of disc galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Brown G
(2017)
Late-time observations of the relativistic tidal disruption flare candidate Swift J1112.2-8238
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Higgins A. B.
(2019)
Detailed multi-wavelength modelling of the dark GRB 140713A and its host galaxy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nixon C
(2018)
The origin of the structure of large-scale magnetic fields in disc galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Humphries J
(2021)
Searching for wide-orbit gravitational instability protoplanets with ALMA in the dust continuum
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Killestein T
(2021)
Transient-optimized real-bogus classification with Bayesian convolutional neural networks - sifting the GOTO candidate stream
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Joyce S
(2018)
Testing the white dwarf mass-radius relation and comparing optical and far-UV spectroscopic results with Gaia DR2, HST and FUSE
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Arabsalmani M
(2018)
Mass and metallicity scaling relations of high-redshift star-forming galaxies selected by GRBs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Angus C
(2016)
A Hubble Space Telescope survey of the host galaxies of Superluminous Supernovae
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Evans N
(2016)
The alignment of the second velocity moment tensor in galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
West R
(2020)
NGTS-10b: the shortest period hot Jupiter yet discovered
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dehnen W
(2017)
Towards time symmetric N-body integration
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Preval S
(2017)
Hot DA white dwarf model atmosphere calculations: including improved Ni PI cross-sections
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Copperwheat C
(2016)
Liverpool Telescope follow-up of candidate electromagnetic counterparts during the first run of Advanced LIGO
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hu J
(2019)
A far-UV survey of three hot, metal-polluted white dwarf stars: WD0455-282, WD0621-376, and WD2211-495
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bayliss D
(2018)
NGTS-1b: a hot Jupiter transiting an M-dwarf
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Goad M
(2019)
Anomalous behaviour of the UV-optical continuum bands in NGC 5548
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nixon C
(2018)
The Maximum Mass Solar Nebula and the early formation of planets
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lyman J
(2016)
Hubble Space Telescope observations of the host galaxies and environments of calcium-rich supernovae
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hu J
(2020)
Measuring the fine structure constant on a white dwarf surface; a detailed analysis of Fe V absorption in G191-B2B
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tanvir N
(2019)
The fraction of ionizing radiation from massive stars that escapes to the intergalactic medium
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Raynard L
(2018)
NGTS-2b: an inflated hot-Jupiter transiting a bright F-dwarf
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Joyce S
(2018)
The gravitational redshift of Sirius B
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chaushev A
(2019)
Classifying exoplanet candidates with convolutional neural networks: application to the Next Generation Transit Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pounds K
(2018)
An ultra-fast inflow in the luminous Seyfert PG1211+143
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lamb G
(2021)
GRB jet structure and the jet break
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
King A
(2016)
Black holes in stellar-mass binary systems: expiating original spin?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Higgins A
(2019)
SPLOT: a snapshot survey for polarized light in optical transients
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Casewell S
(2018)
A low-mass eclipsing binary within the fully convective zone from the Next Generation Transit Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Meyer D
(2021)
Parameter study for the burst mode of accretion in massive star formation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Raimundo S
(2019)
Modelling the AGN broad line region using single-epoch spectra - I. The test case of Arp 151
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fernández J
(2022)
Lateral spreading effects on VLBI radio images of neutron star merger jets
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Heintz K
(2018)
The luminous, massive and solar metallicity galaxy hosting the Swift ?-ray burst GRB 160804A at z = 0.737
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
West R
(2020)
A long-period (P = 61.8 d) M5V dwarf eclipsing a Sun-like star from TESS and NGTS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Evans P
(2016)
Optimization of the Swift X-ray follow-up of Advanced LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave triggers in 2015-16
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
West R
(2019)
NGTS-4b: A sub-Neptune transiting in the desert
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Burhanudin U
(2021)
Light-curve classification with recurrent neural networks for GOTO: dealing with imbalanced data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Beardmore A
(2016)
Lord of the Rings - Return of the King: Swift -XRT observations of dust scattering rings around V404 Cygni
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
King A
(2016)
Black hole winds II: Hyper-Eddington winds and feedback
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lendl M
(2020)
TOI-222: a single-transit TESS candidate revealed to be a 34-d eclipsing binary with CORALIE, EulerCam, and NGTS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zubovas K
(2016)
The small observed scale of AGN-driven outflows, and inside-out disc quenching
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Troyer J
(2016)
Correlated X-ray/ultraviolet/optical variability in NGC 6814
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lyman J
(2017)
The host galaxies and explosion sites of long-duration gamma ray bursts: Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Alves D
(2022)
NGTS-21b: an inflated Super-Jupiter orbiting a metal-poor K dwarf
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wheatley P
(2018)
The Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS)
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| Description | Further progress in a variety of fields of astrophysics. |
| Exploitation Route | Further research in various areas of astrophysics. |
| Sectors | Education |
| Description | Royal Society Research Grant |
| Amount | £13,055 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | RG170230 |
| Organisation | The Royal Society |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2017 |
| End | 10/2018 |
| Description | Creativity and Curiosity - Art meets astronomy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The project started as a discussion between artists and astronomers to stimulate new art and engage with new audiences. Events have included exhibitions of the artworks and associated discussion events across the county and abroad. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.creativityandcuriosity.com |
| Description | US NSF announcement of discovery of first gravitational wave source with electromagnetic counterpart - Oct 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | US National Science Foundation press release. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/press-release-gw170817 |
| Description | Various school visits, astronomical society lectures |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Many presentations, 100s of students, excellent questions and discussion. Audience figures are totals for activities during each year. Improvements in interest in applying for science degrees |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021 |