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
Tramonte D
(2023)
QUIJOTE scientific results - V. The microwave intensity and polarization spectra of the Galactic regions W49, W51 and IC443
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Acharya S
(2023)
The role of soft photon injection and heating in 21 cm cosmology
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fernández-Torreiro M
(2023)
QUIJOTE scientific results - X. Spatial variations of Anomalous Microwave Emission along the Galactic plane
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
De la Hoz E
(2023)
QUIJOTE scientific results - VIII. Diffuse polarized foregrounds from component separation with QUIJOTE-MFI
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Song X
(2023)
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT - VIII. The subpulse modulation of 1198 pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Trussler J
(2024)
EPOCHS IX. When cosmic dawn breaks: evidence for evolved stellar populations in 7 < z < 12 galaxies from PEARLS GTO and public NIRCam imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hagiwara Y
(2024)
Off-nuclear H2O maser and dense molecular gas in NGC 1068
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kolesnikov I
(2024)
Unveiling galaxy morphology through an unsupervised-supervised hybrid approach
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Trussler J
(2023)
On the observability and identification of Population III galaxies with JWST
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Keith M
(2023)
Impact of quasi-periodic and steep-spectrum timing noise on the measurement of pulsar timing parameters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Njeri A
(2024)
The VLBA CANDELS GOODS-North Survey. II - Wide-field source catalogue comparison between the VLBA, EVN, e -MERLIN, and VLA
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Towler I
(2024)
Inferring the dark matter splashback radius from cluster gas and observable profiles in the FLAMINGO simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cyr B
(2024)
Disentangling the primordial nature of stochastic gravitational wave backgrounds with CMB spectral distortions
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sormani M
(2023)
Fuelling the nuclear ring of NGC 1097
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Herranz D
(2023)
QUIJOTE scientific results - IX. Radio sources in the QUIJOTE-MFI wide survey maps
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chen G
(2023)
Star formation in the centre of NGC 1808 as observed by ALMA
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kaczmarek Z
(2024)
Spatially resolved microlensing time-scale distributions across the Galactic bulge with the VVV survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sánchez C
(2023)
The Dark Energy Survey Year 3 high-redshift sample: selection, characterization, and analysis of galaxy clustering
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Acharya S
(2023)
A closer look at dark photon explanations of the excess radio background
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Golden-Marx J
(2023)
Characterizing the intracluster light over the redshift range 0.2 < z < 0.8 in the DES-ACT overlap
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dal Ponte M
(2023)
Ultracool dwarfs candidates based on 6 yr of the Dark Energy Survey data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tacchella S
(2023)
JWST NIRCam + NIRSpec: interstellar medium and stellar populations of young galaxies with rising star formation and evolving gas reservoirs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cotton W
(2024)
The MeerKAT 1.3 GHz Survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Padmanabh P
(2023)
The MPIfR-MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey - I. System set-up and early results
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Basu A
(2024)
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT - XII. Discovery of long-term pulse profile evolution in seven young pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society