Astrophysics and Cosmology Research at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics 2023-2026
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.
Pulsars and Time Domain Astrophysics: The focus of this group is astrophysical signatures that are changing with time - signals which go 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.
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.
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.
Pulsars and Time Domain Astrophysics: The focus of this group is astrophysical signatures that are changing with time - signals which go 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.
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.
Organisations
Publications
Caleb M
(2023)
A subarcsec localized fast radio burst with a significant host galaxy dispersion measure contribution
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dodge O
(2024)
Mass estimates from optical modelling of the new TRAPUM redback PSR J1910-5320
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Posselt B
(2023)
The Thousand Pulsar Array program on MeerKAT - IX. The time-averaged properties of the observed pulsar population
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Taylor A
(2024)
MIGHTEE polarization early science fields: the deep polarized sky
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lower M
(2023)
Rotational and radio emission properties of PSR J0738-4042 over half a century
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
De Ruiter I
(2023)
Low-frequency radio observations of recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi with MeerKAT and LOFAR
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mutie I
(2024)
Radio jets in NGC 1068 with e -MERLIN and VLA: structure and morphology
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hygate A
(2023)
The ALMA REBELS Survey: discovery of a massive, highly star-forming, and morphologically complex ULIRG at z = 7.31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Patel M
(2023)
GRB 201015A and the nature of low-luminosity soft gamma-ray bursts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Palla M
(2024)
Metal and dust evolution in ALMA REBELS galaxies: insights for future JWST observations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cunnington S
(2023)
The foreground transfer function for H i intensity mapping signal reconstruction: MeerKLASS and precision cosmology applications
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Keller P
(2023)
Search for the Epoch of Reionization with HERA: upper limits on the closure phase delay power spectrum
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Radcliffe J
(2024)
Revisiting a flux recovery systematic error arising from common deconvolution methods used in aperture-synthesis imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Falxa M
(2023)
Searching for continuous Gravitational Waves in the second data release of the International Pulsar Timing Array
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Irfan M
(2024)
Mitigating the effect of 1/ f noise on the detection of the H i intensity mapping power spectrum from single-dish measurements
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pan H
(2023)
MIGHTEE-H i : the M H i - M * relation over the last billion years
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ormerod K
(2024)
EPOCHS VI: the size and shape evolution of galaxies since z ~ 8 with JWST Observations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Trussler J
(2023)
Seeing sharper and deeper: JWST's first glimpse of the photometric and spectroscopic properties of galaxies in the epoch of reionization
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jankowski F
(2023)
A sample of fast radio bursts discovered and localized with MeerTRAP at the MeerKAT telescope
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Juodžbalis I
(2023)
EPOCHS VII: discovery of high-redshift (6.5 < z < 12) AGN candidates in JWST ERO and PEARLS data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Whittam I
(2024)
MIGHTEE: Multi-wavelength counterparts in the COSMOS field
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Toy M
(2023)
Rates and properties of Type Ia supernovae in galaxy clusters within the dark energy survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Duncan K
(2023)
JWST's PEARLS: TN J1338-1942 - I. Extreme jet-triggered star formation in a z = 4.11 luminous radio galaxy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cunnington S
(2024)
Accurate Fourier-space statistics for line intensity mapping: Cartesian grid sampling without aliased power
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Varadaraj R
(2023)
The bright end of the galaxy luminosity function at z ? 7 from the VISTA VIDEO survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society