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
Zacharegkas G
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: galaxy-halo connection from galaxy-galaxy lensing
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bezuidenhout M
(2022)
MeerTRAP: 12 Galactic fast transients detected in a real-time, commensal MeerKAT survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Acharya S
(2023)
Importance of intracluster scattering and relativistic corrections from tSZ effect with cosmic infrared background
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
Lorimer D
(2021)
Timing observations of three Galactic millisecond pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Song X
(2021)
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT - II. Observing strategy for pulsar monitoring with subarrays
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
O'Sullivan S
(2023)
The Faraday Rotation Measure Grid of the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey: Data Release 2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mall G
(2022)
Modelling annual scintillation arc variations in PSR J1643-1224 using the Large European Array for Pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kovács A
(2022)
The DES view of the Eridanus supervoid and the CMB cold spot
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McBride L
(2023)
Characterizing line-of-sight variability of polarized dust emission with future CMB experiments
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ghasemi-Nodehi M
(2022)
Evolution of thermal and non-thermal radio continuum emission on kpc scales - predictions for SKA
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
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
Mohan D
(2022)
Quantifying uncertainty in deep learning approaches to radio galaxy classification
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Keane E
(2020)
Limits on absorption from a 332-MHz survey for fast radio bursts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sengar R
(2022)
The High Time Resolution Universe Pulsar Survey - XVII. PSR J1325-6253, a low eccentricity double neutron star system from an ultra-stripped supernova
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Anderson M
(2021)
An ALMA study of hub-filament systems - I. On the clump mass concentration within the most massive cores
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Grylls P
(2020)
The significant effects of stellar mass estimation on galaxy pair fractions.
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fuller G
(2020)
Methanol and water maser observations separate disc and outflow sources in IRAS 19410+2336
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Venkatraman Krishnan V
(2020)
The SUrvey for pulsars and extragalactic radio bursts V: recent discoveries and full timing solutions
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
Koprowski M
(2020)
An ALMA survey of the SCUBA-2 cosmology legacy survey UKIDSS/UDS field: Dust attenuation in high-redshift Lyman-break galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Topping M
(2022)
The ALMA REBELS Survey: specific star formation rates in the reionization era
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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