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
Soler J
(2020)
The history of dynamics and stellar feedback revealed by the H I filamentary structure in the disk of the Milky Way
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Van der Werf P
(2020)
An ALMA survey of the SCUBA-2 CLS UDS field: physical properties of 707 sub-millimetre galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Voronkov M
(2020)
Erratum: Excited-state hydroxyl maser catalogue from the methanol multibeam survey - I. Positions and variability
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Aad G
(2020)
Reconstruction and identification of boosted di-t systems in a search for Higgs boson pairs using 13 TeV proton-proton collision data in ATLAS
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Ding H
(2020)
Very Long Baseline Astrometry of PSR J1012+5307 and its Implications on Alternative Theories of Gravity
in The Astrophysical Journal
McBride V
(2020)
Imbalance learning for variable star classification
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Whitney A
(2020)
Surface Brightness Evolution of Galaxies in the CANDELS GOODS Fields up to z ~ 6: High-z Galaxies Are Unique or Remain Undetected
in The Astrophysical Journal
Aad G
(2020)
Search for Higgs Boson Decays into a Z Boson and a Light Hadronically Decaying Resonance Using 13 TeV pp Collision Data from the ATLAS Detector.
in Physical review letters
McEwen A
(2020)
The Green Bank North Celestial Cap Pulsar Survey. V. Pulsar Census and Survey Sensitivity
in The Astrophysical Journal
Arzoumanian Z
(2020)
Multimessenger Gravitational-wave Searches with Pulsar Timing Arrays: Application to 3C 66B Using the NANOGrav 11-year Data Set
in The Astrophysical Journal
Champion D
(2020)
High-cadence observations and variable spin behaviour of magnetar Swift J1818.0-1607 after its outburst
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vallisneri M
(2020)
Modeling the Uncertainties of Solar System Ephemerides for Robust Gravitational-wave Searches with Pulsar-timing Arrays
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abbott R
(2020)
Gravitational-wave Constraints on the Equatorial Ellipticity of Millisecond Pulsars
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Henghes B
(2020)
Machine Learning for Searching the Dark Energy Survey for Trans-Neptunian Objects
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Barnes D
(2020)
Relativistic SZ temperature scaling relations of groups and clusters derived from the BAHAMAS and MACSIS simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Levin L
(2020)
The radio pulsar population of the Small Magellanic Cloud
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rajwade K
(2020)
MeerTRAP in the era of multi-messenger astrophysics
Schilizzi R
(2020)
Letter
in Astronomy & Geophysics
Kudale S
(2020)
Study of Eclipses for Redback Pulsar J1227-4853
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bondonneau L
(2020)
A census of the pulsar population observed with the international LOFAR station FR606 at low frequencies (25-80 MHz)
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Xu ? X
(2020)
Independent Core Rotation in Massive Filaments in Orion
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Schisano E
(2020)
The evolutionary status of protostellar clumps hosting class II methanol masers
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Aad G
(2020)
Search for top squarks in events with a Higgs or Z boson using 139 fb$$^{-1}$$ of pp collision data at $$\sqrt{s}=13$$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
in The European Physical Journal C
Koumpia E
(2020)
Optical and near-infrared observations of the Fried Egg Nebula Multiple shell ejections on a 100 yr timescale from a massive yellow hypergiant
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Sormani M
(2020)
Simulations of the Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone - II. Star formation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wu J
(2020)
The High Time Resolution Universe Pulsar Survey - XVI. Discovery and timing of 40 pulsars from the southern Galactic plane
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Aad G
(2020)
Measurement of the t t ¯ production cross-section in the lepton+jets channel at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS experiment
in Physics Letters B
Aad G
(2020)
Alignment of the ATLAS Inner Detector in Run 2
in The European Physical Journal C
Ding H
(2020)
Erratum: "Very Long Baseline Astrometry of PSR J1012+5307 and its Implications on Alternative Theories of Gravity" (2020, ApJ, 896, 85)
in The Astrophysical Journal
Decin L
(2020)
(Sub)stellar companions shape the winds of evolved stars.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Aad G
(2020)
ATLAS data quality operations and performance for 2015-2018 data-taking
in Journal of Instrumentation
Wu J
(2020)
Simultaneous multi-telescope observations of FRB 121102
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gatti M
(2020)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: cosmology with moments of weak lensing mass maps - validation on simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Aad G
(2020)
Higgs boson production cross-section measurements and their EFT interpretation in the $$4\ell $$ decay channel at $$\sqrt{s}=$$13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
in The European Physical Journal C
Eden D
(2020)
CHIMPS2: survey description and 12CO emission in the Galactic Centre
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Aad G
(2020)
CP Properties of Higgs Boson Interactions with Top Quarks in the tt[over ¯]H and tH Processes Using H??? with the ATLAS Detector.
in Physical review letters
Hartley W
(2020)
The impact of spectroscopic incompleteness in direct calibration of redshift distributions for weak lensing surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Aad G
(2020)
Search for light long-lived neutral particles produced in pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s} = 13~\mathrm {TeV}$$ and decaying into collimated leptons or light hadrons with the ATLAS detector
in The European Physical Journal C
Dalla Vecchia C
(2020)
Constraining the inner density slope of massive galaxy clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Aad G
(2020)
Dijet Resonance Search with Weak Supervision Using sqrt[s]=13 TeV pp Collisions in the ATLAS Detector.
in Physical review letters
Aad G
(2020)
Erratum to: Measurement of differential cross sections for single diffractive dissociation in $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 8 TeV pp collisions using the ATLAS ALFA spectrometer
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Keane E
(2020)
Limits on absorption from a 332-MHz survey for fast radio bursts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Noutsos A
(2020)
Understanding and improving the timing of PSR J0737-3039B
in Astronomy & Astrophysics