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
Mawdsley B
(2020)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Wide-field mass maps via forward fitting in harmonic space
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Abbott T
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: A 2.7% measurement of baryon acoustic oscillation distance scale at redshift 0.835
in Physical Review D
Gatti M
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: clustering redshifts - calibration of the weak lensing source redshift distributions with redMaGiC and BOSS/eBOSS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Abbott T
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: Cosmological constraints from galaxy clustering and weak lensing
in Physical Review D
Amon A
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: Cosmology from cosmic shear and robustness to data calibration
in Physical Review D
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
Zürcher D
(2022)
Dark energy survey year 3 results: Cosmology with peaks using an emulator approach
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
Hartley W
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Deep Field optical + near-infrared images and catalogue
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
Ferrero I
(2021)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Galaxy mock catalogs for BAO analysis
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Rosell A
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: galaxy sample for BAO measurement
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zacharegkas G
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: galaxy-halo connection from galaxy-galaxy lensing
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
Chan K
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: Measurement of the baryon acoustic oscillations with three-dimensional clustering
in Physical Review D
Everett S
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Measuring the Survey Transfer Function with Balrog
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
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
Sevilla-Noarbe I
(2021)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Photometric Data Set for Cosmology
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Jarvis M
(2021)
Dark Energy Survey year 3 results: point spread function modelling
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Myles J
(2021)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: redshift calibration of the weak lensing source galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gatti M
(2021)
Dark energy survey year 3 results: weak lensing shape catalogue
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ramstedt S
(2020)
DEATHSTAR: Nearby AGB stars with the Atacama Compact Array I. CO envelope sizes and asymmetries: A new hope for accurate mass-loss-rate estimates
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Andriantsaralaza M
(2021)
DEATHSTAR: nearby AGB stars with the Atacama Compact Array II. CO envelope sizes and asymmetries: the S-type stars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Sweijen F
(2022)
Deep sub-arcsecond wide-field imaging of the Lockman Hole field at 144 MHz
in Nature Astronomy
Morgan R
(2023)
DeepZipper. II. Searching for Lensed Supernovae in Dark Energy Survey Data with Deep Learning
in The Astrophysical Journal
Muir J
(2021)
DES Y1 results: Splitting growth and geometry to test ? CDM
in Physical Review D
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
Stankowiak G
(2020)
Detection chain and electronic readout of the QUBIC instrument
Ammazzalorso S
(2020)
Detection of Cross-Correlation between Gravitational Lensing and ? Rays.
in Physical review letters
Liu K
(2022)
Detection of quasi-periodic micro-structure in three millisecond pulsars with the Large European Array for Pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cepeda-Arroita R
(2021)
Detection of spectral variations of Anomalous Microwave Emission with QUIJOTE and C-BASS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Aaboud M
(2020)
Determination of jet calibration and energy resolution in proton-proton collisions at $$\sqrt{s} = 8~\hbox {TeV}$$ using the ATLAS detector
in The European Physical Journal C
Aad G
(2020)
Dijet Resonance Search with Weak Supervision Using sqrt[s]=13 TeV pp Collisions in the ATLAS Detector.
in Physical review letters
Vleeschower L
(2022)
Discoveries and timing of pulsars in NGC 6440
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Adams N
(2023)
Discovery and properties of ultra-high redshift galaxies (9 < z < 12) in the JWST ERO SMACS 0723 Field
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wang L
(2020)
Discovery and Timing of Pulsars in the Globular Cluster M13 with FAST
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bhattacharyya B
(2021)
Discovery and Timing of Three Millisecond Pulsars in Radio and Gamma-Rays with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope and Fermi Large Area Telescope
in The Astrophysical Journal
Nieder L
(2020)
Discovery of a Gamma-Ray Black Widow Pulsar by GPU-accelerated Einstein@Home
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Wang Z
(2021)
Discovery of ASKAP J173608.2-321635 as a Highly Polarized Transient Point Source with the Australian SKA Pathfinder
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ray P
(2022)
Discovery, Timing, and Multiwavelength Observations of the Black Widow Millisecond Pulsar PSR J1555-2908
in The Astrophysical Journal
Schmiedeke A
(2021)
Dissecting the Supercritical Filaments Embedded in the 0.5 pc Subsonic Region of Barnard 5
in The Astrophysical Journal
Battye R
(2020)
Domain wall constraints on two-Higgs-doublet models with Z 2 symmetry
in Physical Review D
Arzoumanian D
(2021)
Dust polarized emission observations of NGC 6334 BISTRO reveals the details of the complex but organized magnetic field structure of the high-mass star-forming hub-filament network
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Burke C
(2022)
Dwarf AGNs from Optical Variability for the Origins of Seeds (DAVOS): insights from the dark energy survey deep fields
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Altamura E
(2023)
EAGLE-like simulation models do not solve the entropy core problem in groups and clusters of galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Suphapolthaworn S
(2022)
Earth through the looking glass: how frequently are we detected by other civilizations through photometric microlensing?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ridolfi A
(2021)
Eight new millisecond pulsars from the first MeerKAT globular cluster census
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Griffiths A
(2021)
Emission line galaxies in the SHARDS Frontier Fields - I. Candidate selection and the discovery of bursty Ha emitters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Griffiths A
(2022)
Emission Line Galaxies in the SHARDS Hubble Frontier Fields. II. Limits on Lyman-continuum Escape Fractions of Lensed Emission Line Galaxies at Redshifts 2 < z < 3.5
in The Astrophysical Journal