Research in Theoretical Astronomy 2009-2014
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Institute of Astronomy
Abstract
The Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, is one of the worlds leading research Institutes in Astronomy. It comprises 19 academic staff, 51 postdoctoral research assistants and 52 PhD students, about half of whom work on theoretical astronomy. This grant application is asking for a renewal of the main theoretical rolling grant at the IoA. Over the next five years we will pursue a broad range of theoretical research on the following problems: (i) The Planck satellite is a third generation space satellite dedicated to measuring the temperature and polarization anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. Planck is scheduled for launch at the end of 2008, some 15 years after it was first proposed to ESA. The years covered by the grant coincide with the peak period for the scientific exploitation of this satellite. PDRA support is requested to work with the Co-Investigators on core science projects. In particular, we are responsible for leading the key analysis of cosmological parameters from Planck and wish to investigate constraints on models of cosmic inflation. Cambridge has a leading role in the Clover polarization experiment and we wish to involve PDRAs in the scientific interpretation of that experiment. (ii) The cosmic microwave background radiation provides us with a picture of the Universe when it was 400,000 years old. At that time, the Universe was filled with a near uniform mixture of hydrogen , helium, dark matter and radiation. We will investigate how the first non-linear structures emerged from this stochastic background. Over the grant period the main emphasis of the research will be to perform hydrodynamic simulations including radiative transfer to model the thermal state of the intergalactic medium and spatially extended Lyalpha emission. We will also extend previous work on the matter power spectrum from the Ly alpha forest to constrain neutrino masses, in combination with data from Planck. (iii) The discovery of large numbers of extrasolar planets has led to enormous interest in theoretical work on the formation of planets. Over the grant period we will pursue a research programme building on expertise in protoplanetary and debris disk evolution. The work will be centred on linking the protoplanetary phase, when discs were gas rich and possible sites of ongoing gaseous planet formation, through to the debris disc phase, when discs were gas poor, dusty structures, with planetesimal bels as possible sites for terrestrial planet formation. (iv) Accretion discs are present in a wide variety of astronomical systems . In particular, accretion onto compact objects such as black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs produce observational signatures that provide the main scientific justification for X-ray satellites and gravitational wave detectors. Magnetic fields are central to understanding the evolution of accretion discs. We will perform state-of-the-art numerical simulations of magnetised accretion discs to understand their role in accretion disc dynamics and to compute observational signatures. (v) Understanding stellar evolution is essential for the interpretation of all astrophysical systems, from stars in our own Galaxy to the formation of the first non-linear structures in the Universe. Over the next five years we will develop improved models of massive stars as the progenitors of supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. We will also develop fully three-dimensional numerical models of stellar evolution in binary systems, in collaboration with colleagues at Livermore. (vi) Finally, we will pursue two research themes to understand feedback processes in the cores of clusters of galaxies. We will investigate the physics of `emission line filaments', which are still not understood and we will use large numerical simulations to assess the impact of baryonic physics on the use of clusters as cosmological probes (e.g. testing the nature of dark energy.
Organisations
Publications
{Planck Collaboration} And {Ade}, P.~A.~R. And {Aghanim}, N. And {Arnaud}, M. And {Ashdown}, M. And {Aumont}, J. And {Baccigalupi}, C. And {Balbi}, A. And {Banday}, A.~J. And {Barreiro}, R.~B. And {Bartlett}, J.~G. And {Battaner}, E. And {Benabed}, K. And {Beno{\^i}t}, A. And {Bernard}, J.-P. And {Bersanelli}, M. And {Bhatia}, R. And {Bock}, J.~J. And {Bonaldi}, A. And {Bond}, J.~R. And {Borrill}, J. And {Bouchet}, F.~R. And {Boulanger}, F. And {Bucher}, M. And {Burigana}, C. And {Cabella}, P.
(2011)
Planck early results. XIX. All-sky temperature and dust optical depth from Planck and IRAS. Constraints on the ''dark gas'' in our Galaxy
in \aap
Zimmerman N
(2010)
PARALLACTIC MOTION FOR COMPANION DISCOVERY: AN M-DWARF ORBITING ALCOR
in The Astrophysical Journal
Zimmerman N
(2011)
A Data-Cube Extraction Pipeline for a Coronagraphic Integral Field Spectrograph
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Zacchei A
(2011)
Planck early results. V. The Low Frequency Instrument data processing
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Wyatt M
(2011)
Debris disk size distributions: steady state collisional evolution with Poynting-Robertson drag and other loss processes
in Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy
Wyatt M
(2010)
Collisional evolution of eccentric planetesimal swarms Collisional evolution of eccentric debris
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wright J
(2009)
A THIRD GIANT PLANET ORBITING HIP 14810
in The Astrophysical Journal
Wright J
(2011)
THE CALIFORNIA PLANET SURVEY. III. A POSSIBLE 2:1 RESONANCE IN THE EXOPLANETARY TRIPLE SYSTEM HD 37124
in The Astrophysical Journal
Wilkins D
(2012)
Testing the accuracy of radiative cooling approximations in smoothed particle hydrodynamical simulations Testing radiative cooling approximations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wickramasinghe D
(2010)
Does GD 356 have a terrestrial planetary companion?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wickramasinghe D
(2009)
Accretion induced collapse of white dwarfs in binary systems and their observational properties
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Weidner C
(2010)
Escaping stars from young low-N clusters Escapees from low-N clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Walmswell J
(2012)
Circumstellar dust as a solution to the red supergiant supernova progenitor problem Circumstellar dust and the red supergiant problem
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Viel M
(2009)
Cosmological and astrophysical constraints from the Lyman a forest flux probability distribution function
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Viel M
(2010)
The effect of neutrinos on the matter distribution as probed by the intergalactic medium
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Veras D
(2011)
QUANTIFYING THE CHALLENGES OF DETECTING UNSEEN PLANETARY COMPANIONS WITH TRANSIT TIMING VARIATIONS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Veras D
(2010)
SECULAR ORBITAL DYNAMICS OF HIERARCHICAL TWO-PLANET SYSTEMS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Veras D
(2012)
Planet-planet scattering alone cannot explain the free-floating planet population
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Veras D
(2009)
FORMATION, SURVIVAL, AND DETECTABILITY OF PLANETS BEYOND 100 AU
in The Astrophysical Journal
Veras D
(2012)
Identifying non-resonant Kepler planetary systems Non-resonant Kepler systems
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Veras D
(2011)
The great escape: how exoplanets and smaller bodies desert dying stars The great escape
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tout C
(2011)
Astrophysics: Stars acquire youth through duplicity.
in Nature
Tout C
(2011)
A common envelope binary star origin of long gamma-ray bursts LGRBs from common envelope evolution
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tauber J
(2010)
Planck pre-launch status: The Planck mission
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Stancliffe R
(2009)
Modelling the binary progenitor of Supernova 1993J
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sollom I
(2009)
Cold dark matter isocurvature perturbations: Constraints and model selection
in Physical Review D
Smith R
(2010)
Warm dusty discs: exploring the A star 24 ยต m debris population
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Smith R
(2009)
Resolving the hot dust around HD69830 and ? Corvi with MIDI and VISIR
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Smartt S
(2009)
The death of massive stars - I. Observational constraints on the progenitors of Type II-P supernovae
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Simon J
(2011)
RESISTIVITY-DRIVEN STATE CHANGES IN VERTICALLY STRATIFIED ACCRETION DISKS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Simon J
(2011)
TURBULENT LINEWIDTHS IN PROTOPLANETARY DISKS: PREDICTIONS FROM NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sijacki D
(2011)
Gravitational recoils of supermassive black holes in hydrodynamical simulations of gas-rich galaxies Recoils of black holes in gas-rich galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sijacki D
(2009)
Growing the first bright quasars in cosmological simulations of structure formation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sheehan C
(2010)
Forming the first planetary systems: debris around Galactic thick disc stars Debris around thick disc stars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Rice W
(2011)
Stability of self-gravitating discs under irradiation Irradiated self-gravitating discs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Regan J
(2009)
Pathways to massive black holes and compact star clusters in pre-galactic dark matter haloes with virial temperatures ?10 000 K
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Raymond S
(2009)
PLANET-PLANET SCATTERING LEADS TO TIGHTLY PACKED PLANETARY SYSTEMS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Raymond S
(2011)
Debris disks as signposts of terrestrial planet formation
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Rauch M
(2011)
Filamentary infall of cold gas and escape of Lya and hydrogen ionizing radiation from an interacting high-redshift galaxy? Infall of gas and escape of radiation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rauch M
(2011)
Faint resonantly scattered Lya emission from the absorption troughs of damped Lya systems at z~ 3 Lya emission from damped Lya systems
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Pueyo L
(2012)
APPLICATION OF A DAMPED LOCALLY OPTIMIZED COMBINATION OF IMAGES METHOD TO THE SPECTRAL CHARACTERIZATION OF FAINT COMPANIONS USING AN INTEGRAL FIELD SPECTROGRAPH
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Potter A
(2012)
Towards a unified model of stellar rotation Towards a unified model of stellar rotation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Potter A
(2010)
Magnetic field evolution of white dwarfs in strongly interacting binary star systems
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pontzen A
(2011)
Linearization of homogeneous, nearly-isotropic cosmological models
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Phillips N
(2010)
Target selection for the SUNS and DEBRIS surveys for debris discs in the solar neighbourhood
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Payne M
(2010)
TRANSIT TIMING VARIATIONS FOR INCLINED AND RETROGRADE EXOPLANETARY SYSTEMS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Payne M
(2009)
Outward migration of terrestrial embryos in binary systems Terrestrial embryo migration around binaries
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Owen J
(2010)
Radiation-hydrodynamic models of X-ray and EUV photoevaporating protoplanetary discs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Owen J
(2011)
Protoplanetary disc evolution and dispersal: the implications of X-ray photoevaporation Disc evolution and dispersal
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| Description | Fundamental contributions to a wide range of problems in theoretical astronomy |
| Exploitation Route | Via publication in academic journals |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Other |