A Programme of Technology, Astrophysics and Cosmology in Cardiff 2019-22

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, how galaxies form and evolve and the signals from the very early Universe embedded in the polarisation properties of the Cosmic Microwave background. 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.

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, and the new spinout Sequestym, for security cameras. 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

Publications

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Priestley F (2022) Properties of shocked dust grains in supernova remnants in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Rohde P (2022) Protostellar outflows: a window to the past in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Nightingale J (2023) PyAutoGalaxy: Open-Source Multiwavelength Galaxy Structure & Morphology in Journal of Open Source Software

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Nightingale J (2021) PyAutoLens: Open-Source Strong Gravitational Lensing in Journal of Open Source Software

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Niculescu-Duvaz M (2023) Quantifying the dust in SN 2012aw and iPTF14hls with ORBYTS in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Battistelli E (2020) QUBIC: The Q & U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology in Journal of Low Temperature Physics

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Battistelli E. S. (2020) QUBIC: the Q & U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology in arXiv e-prints

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De Zotti Gianfranco (2019) Radio sources in next-generation CMB surveys in Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society

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Marsh K (2019) RCW 120: a possible case of hit and run, elucidated by multitemperature dust mapping in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Perley D (2021) Real-time discovery of AT2020xnd: a fast, luminous ultraviolet transient with minimal radioactive ejecta in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Hornsby A (2020) Reducing the Susceptibility of Lumped-Element KIDs to Two-Level System Effects in Journal of Low Temperature Physics

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Otter Justin (2022) Resolved Molecular Gas Observations of MaNGA Post-starbursts Reveal a Tumultuous Past in American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts

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Smith C (2019) Revealing dust-obscured star formation in CLJ1449+0856, a cluster at z = 2 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Seth Anil C. (2021) Revealing Low Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei (ReveaLLAGN) in JWST Proposal. Cycle 1

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Priestley F. D. (2019) Revisiting the Crab Nebula's dust and synchrotron radiation from the infrared to radio domain in Supernova Remnants: An Odyssey in Space after Stellar Death II

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Priestley F (2021) Revisiting the dust destruction efficiency of supernovae in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Clarke S (2022) RJ-plots: An improved method to classify structures objectively in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Toba Y (2020) S2COSMOS: Evolution of gas mass with redshift using dust emission in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Cheng T (2019) SCUBA-2 observations of candidate starbursting protoclusters selected by Planck and Herschel-SPIRE in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Cheng T (2020) SCUBA-2 overdensities associated with candidate protoclusters selected from Planck data in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Bing L (2022) Searching for high-z DSFGs with NIKA2 and NOEMA in EPJ Web of Conferences

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Urquhart J (2021) SEDIGISM-ATLASGAL: dense gas fraction and star formation efficiency across the Galactic disc in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Bisigello L (2021) Simulating infrared spectro-photometric surveys with a S pritz in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia

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Bisigello L (2021) Simulating the infrared sky with a SPRITZ in Astronomy & Astrophysics