Astrophysics and Cosmology Research at the JBCA 2020-2023
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
This grant supports the research of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. Our research is a divided into 3 groups. There are too many specific proposals to describe in detail, do below we have given a brief layman's explanation of the work being carried out by the three groups.
Cosmology: This is the study of the Universe as a whole. The main aim is to understand the processes by which the large scale feature of the Universe formed and to constrain the various different kinds of matter that existed within it. These include dark matter and dark energy which are thought to constitute more than 95% of the total. We do this by comparison to observations of weak and strong gravitational lensing which is the distortion of light predicted to be caused by massive objects in Einstein' Theory of General Relativity, the cosmic microwave background which is the faint emission of radiation created at the time when protons and electrons come together to form hydrogen and the emission given off by neutral hydrogen atoms in galaxies. The research we propose here involves both theory and observation as well as the development of the technology necessary to make the observations possible.
Sun, Stars and Galaxies: The researchers in this group study a wide range of astrophysical processes that are reasonable for the formation and evolution of the objects in the name of the group. Specific key areas that the group is interested in are the formation of stars much larger than the Sun and the subsequent evolution, the properties of the so-called interstellar medium (ISM) which comprises molecules not bound to stars and the magnetic fields that permeate space.
Pulsars and Time Domain Astrophysics: The focus of this group is astrophysical signatures that are changing with time- things which come on and off, often with some kind of regularity. These include Pulsars which are a non-standard star type, known as a neutron star, which is a dead star supported by the quantum pressure of neutrons. The radio emission from these objects pulses on an off with extraordinary regularity allowing them to acts cosmic clocks. The constantly measuring these clocks as the neutron stars spin and move through space, often impacted on by a companion star, allows the most precise constraints on the nature of gravity outside the solar system. Other phenomena studied by this group include Nova explosions, other variable stars, and variability induced by the lensing effects of one star passing in front of another, called microlensing.
Cosmology: This is the study of the Universe as a whole. The main aim is to understand the processes by which the large scale feature of the Universe formed and to constrain the various different kinds of matter that existed within it. These include dark matter and dark energy which are thought to constitute more than 95% of the total. We do this by comparison to observations of weak and strong gravitational lensing which is the distortion of light predicted to be caused by massive objects in Einstein' Theory of General Relativity, the cosmic microwave background which is the faint emission of radiation created at the time when protons and electrons come together to form hydrogen and the emission given off by neutral hydrogen atoms in galaxies. The research we propose here involves both theory and observation as well as the development of the technology necessary to make the observations possible.
Sun, Stars and Galaxies: The researchers in this group study a wide range of astrophysical processes that are reasonable for the formation and evolution of the objects in the name of the group. Specific key areas that the group is interested in are the formation of stars much larger than the Sun and the subsequent evolution, the properties of the so-called interstellar medium (ISM) which comprises molecules not bound to stars and the magnetic fields that permeate space.
Pulsars and Time Domain Astrophysics: The focus of this group is astrophysical signatures that are changing with time- things which come on and off, often with some kind of regularity. These include Pulsars which are a non-standard star type, known as a neutron star, which is a dead star supported by the quantum pressure of neutrons. The radio emission from these objects pulses on an off with extraordinary regularity allowing them to acts cosmic clocks. The constantly measuring these clocks as the neutron stars spin and move through space, often impacted on by a companion star, allows the most precise constraints on the nature of gravity outside the solar system. Other phenomena studied by this group include Nova explosions, other variable stars, and variability induced by the lensing effects of one star passing in front of another, called microlensing.
Planned Impact
The range of research we undertake and the world-class facilities within and in close association with JBCA (the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, e-MERLIN, the Lovell Telescope, the ALMA ARC and the SKA HQ) will provide key pathways to increasing our already strong impact on UK and global industry, the next generation of scientists and engineers, and the general public. The University's investment in the Jodrell Bank site combined with significant external funding (e.g. from Heritage Lottery Fund) will enable us to expand its use as an iconic venue for public and industrial engagement. The programme described here formed a key part of the School's submission for REF2014, helping it to be ranked highest in the REF for physics impact with 83% at 4* and 17% at 3*. Our outreach \& public engagement programme is extremely strong and continues to grow, particularly through its work with the University's award-winning Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre and the BBC. With the recent decision on SKA HQ location and our strong research work in this area, there is also growing impact in both outreach and industrial engagement in this area.
Our "Pathways to Impact" statement in the case for support outlines things that we have done in recent times under the headings of "Outreach and Public Engagement" and "Industrial and economic impact". We list some highlights below.
- Jodcast: Podcast run by students with 7000 regular listeners.
- 215000 Twitter and 18000 Facebook followers
- Stargazing live, Pulsar Hunters, Science Programmes presented by Danielle George
- JB Discovery centre with 190000 visitors per year
- Award winning Bluedot Festivals
- Industry contracts for SKA work including CISCO, AASL, NPL, AEON, Critical Software, MMI, GEANT
- Newton programme for Radio Astronomy in Africa.
Our "Pathways to Impact" statement in the case for support outlines things that we have done in recent times under the headings of "Outreach and Public Engagement" and "Industrial and economic impact". We list some highlights below.
- Jodcast: Podcast run by students with 7000 regular listeners.
- 215000 Twitter and 18000 Facebook followers
- Stargazing live, Pulsar Hunters, Science Programmes presented by Danielle George
- JB Discovery centre with 190000 visitors per year
- Award winning Bluedot Festivals
- Industry contracts for SKA work including CISCO, AASL, NPL, AEON, Critical Software, MMI, GEANT
- Newton programme for Radio Astronomy in Africa.
Organisations
Publications
Paoletti D
(2022)
Constraints on primordial magnetic fields from their impact on the ionization history with Planck 2018
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Parent E
(2020)
First Discovery of a Fast Radio Burst at 350 MHz by the GBNCC Survey
in The Astrophysical Journal
Parent E
(2022)
Study of 72 Pulsars Discovered in the PALFA Survey: Timing Analysis, Glitch Activity, Emission Variability, and a Pulsar in an Eccentric Binary
in The Astrophysical Journal
Parthasarathy A
(2021)
Measurements of pulse jitter and single-pulse variability in millisecond pulsars using MeerKAT
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Parthasarathy A
(2020)
Timing of young radio pulsars - II. Braking indices and their interpretation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pascale M
(2022)
Unscrambling the Lensed Galaxies in JWST Images behind SMACS 0723
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Pascale M
(2022)
Possible Ongoing Merger Discovered by Photometry and Spectroscopy in the Field of the Galaxy Cluster PLCK G165.7+67.0
in The Astrophysical Journal
Pearce F
(2021)
Redshift evolution of the hot intracluster gas metallicity in the C-EAGLE cluster simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Peel M
(2022)
Fastcc: Fast Color Corrections for Broadband Radio Telescope Data
in Research Notes of the AAS
Peirson A
(2022)
New Tests of Milli-lensing in the Blazar PKS 1413 + 135
in The Astrophysical Journal
Pereira M
(2020)
ยต? masses: weak-lensing calibration of the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 redMaPPer clusters using stellar masses
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Perez K
(2022)
Breakthrough Listen Search for the WOW! Signal*
in Research Notes of the AAS
Perrott Y
(2023)
Sub-kpc radio jets in the brightest central galaxy of the cool-core galaxy cluster RXJ1720.1+2638
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Perrott Y
(2021)
A 15.5 GHz detection of the galaxy cluster minihalo in RXJ1720.1+2638
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Piat M
(2022)
QUBIC-the Q & U bolometric interferometer for cosmology
Piat M
(2020)
QUBIC: Using NbSi TESs with a Bolometric Interferometer to Characterize the Polarization of the CMB
in Journal of Low Temperature Physics
Pineda J
(2020)
A SOFIA Survey of [C ii] in the Galaxy M51. II. [C ii] and CO Kinematics across the Spiral Arms
in The Astrophysical Journal
Platts E
(2021)
An analysis of the time-frequency structure of several bursts from FRB 121102 detected with MeerKAT
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Poidevin F
(2023)
QUIJOTE scientific results - VII. Galactic AME sources in the QUIJOTE-MFI northern hemisphere wide survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pol N
(2021)
The Location of Young Pulsar PSR J0837-2454: Galactic Halo or Local Supernova Remnant?
in The Astrophysical Journal
Porredon A
(2021)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: Optimizing the lens sample in a combined galaxy clustering and galaxy-galaxy lensing analysis
in Physical Review D
Posselt B
(2021)
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT - VI. Pulse widths of a large and diverse sample of radio pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Prat J
(2022)
Dark energy survey year 3 results: High-precision measurement and modeling of galaxy-galaxy lensing
in Physical Review D
Purver M
(2022)
Removal and replacement of interference in tied-array radio pulsar observations using the spectral kurtosis estimator
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Radcliffe J
(2021)
The radio emission from active galactic nuclei
in Astronomy & Astrophysics