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
Aad G
(2020)
Performance of the ATLAS muon triggers in Run 2
in Journal of Instrumentation
Aad G
(2020)
Performance of the upgraded PreProcessor of the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger
in Journal of Instrumentation
Aad G
(2020)
ATLAS data quality operations and performance for 2015-2018 data-taking
in Journal of Instrumentation
Lamagna L
(2020)
Progress Report on the Large-Scale Polarization Explorer
in Journal of Low Temperature Physics
Piat M
(2020)
QUBIC: Using NbSi TESs with a Bolometric Interferometer to Characterize the Polarization of the CMB
in Journal of Low Temperature Physics
Amara A
(2021)
SkyPy: A package for modelling the Universe
in Journal of Open Source Software
Mele L
(2020)
The QUBIC instrument for CMB polarization measurements
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
McCulloch M
(2024)
A tunable resonator enabled by a soft impedance surface
in Microwave and Optical Technology Letters
Cheng T
(2021)
Beyond the hubble sequence - exploring galaxy morphology with unsupervised machine learning
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McCallum N
(2021)
Spin-based removal of instrumental systematics in 21 cm intensity mapping surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McKee J
(2020)
A precise mass measurement of PSR J2045 + 3633
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Irfan M
(2022)
Measurements of the diffuse Galactic synchrotron spectral index and curvature from MeerKLASS pilot data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lee S
(2022)
Probing gravity with the DES-CMASS sample and BOSS spectroscopy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Irabor T
(2023)
The coordinated radio and infrared survey for high-mass star formation - V. The CORNISH-South survey and catalogue
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Arámburo-García A
(2022)
Revision of Faraday rotation measure constraints on the primordial magnetic field using the IllustrisTNG simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Akhazhanov A
(2022)
Finding quadruply imaged quasars with machine learning - I. Methods
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Miles M
(2022)
Mode changing in J1909 - 3744: the most precisely timed pulsar
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Whitworth D
(2022)
Is the molecular KS relationship universal down to low metallicities?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McCallum N
(2021)
Spin characterization of systematics in CMB surveys - a comprehensive formalism
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stappers B
(2020)
Study of spider pulsar binary eclipses and discovery of an eclipse mechanism transition
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gorce A
(2023)
Impact of instrument and data characteristics in the interferometric reconstruction of the 21 cm power spectrum
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gompertz B
(2020)
Searching for electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational-wave merger events with the prototype Gravitational-Wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO-4)
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Shimajiri Y
(2020)
The accretion history of high-mass stars: an ArTéMiS pilot study of infrared dark clouds
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Harrison I
(2020)
SuperCLASS - III. Weak lensing from radio and optical observations in Data Release 1
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dyks J
(2021)
Circular polarization in radio pulsar PSR B1451-68: coherent mode transitions and intrabeam interference
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bak Nielsen A
(2020)
Timing stability of three black widow pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Reale F
(2020)
Predicting the time variation of radio emission from MHD simulations of a flaring T-Tauri star
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zucca P
(2020)
LOFAR 144-MHz follow-up observations of GW170817
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rosell A
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: galaxy sample for BAO measurement
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Carli E
(2022)
TRAPUM upper limits on pulsed radio emission for SMC X-ray pulsar J0058-7218
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jeffrey N
(2021)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: Curved-sky weak lensing mass map reconstruction
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vives-Arias H
(2020)
VLA and ALMA observations of the lensed radio-quiet quasar SDSS J0924+0219: a molecular structure in a 3 µJy radio source
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rotti A
(2022)
Non-Gaussianity constraints with anisotropic µ distortion measurements from Planck
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Driver S
(2022)
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Data Release 4 and the z < 0.1 total and z < 0.08 morphological galaxy stellar mass functions
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Baldi R
(2021)
LeMMINGs III. The e- MERLIN legacy survey of the Palomar sample: exploring the origin of nuclear radio emission in active and inactive galaxies through the [O iii ] - radio connection
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lorimer D
(2021)
Timing observations of three Galactic millisecond pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Johnston S
(2021)
Two years of pulsar observations with the ultra-wide-band receiver on the Parkes radio telescope
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chen Z
(2023)
Towards optimal foreground mitigation strategies for interferometric H i intensity mapping in the low-redshift Universe
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rodríguez-Monroy M
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: galaxy clustering and systematics treatment for lens galaxy samples
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Spinelli M
(2022)
SKAO H i intensity mapping: blind foreground subtraction challenge
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Caleb M
(2022)
Radio and X-ray observations of giant pulses from XTE J1810 - 197
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Schmidt T
(2023)
STRIDES: automated uniform models for 30 quadruply imaged quasars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lim S
(2021)
Is there enough star formation in simulated protoclusters?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jarvis M
(2021)
Dark Energy Survey year 3 results: point spread function modelling
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lee E
(2022)
A multisimulation study of relativistic SZ temperature scalings in galaxy clusters and groups
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Morello V
(2022)
IQRM: real-time adaptive RFI masking for radio transient and pulsar searches
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Specht D
(2023)
Kepler K2 Campaign 9 - II. First space-based discovery of an exoplanet using microlensing
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sarron F
(2021)
DETECTIFz galaxy groups in the REFINE survey - I. Group detection and quenched fraction evolution at z < 2.5
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Specht D
(2020)
MaBµlS-2: high-precision microlensing modelling for the large-scale survey era
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society