Survey Cosmology and Astrophysics
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Portsmouth
Department Name: Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation
Abstract
This rolling grant is to support cosmologists and astrophysicists at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG) at the University of Portsmouth. The ICG was formed in 2002 through a strategic investment from the university, and now hosts up to 50 researchers making it one of the largest extragalactic groups in the UK. Cosmology and astrophysics are experiencing a golden age of discovery driven by new advances in technology and theory. However, we still face two fundamental challenges before a more complete model of the Universe can be achieved: i) What are the properties of the 'dark matter' and 'dark energy' that make up 96% of the Universe, and ii) how do galaxies - the 'building blocks' of the Universe - form and evolve? This grant will address both these fundamental problems through the use of new, massive surveys of the sky. For example, we will use a new 520-megapixel camera on the Blanco 4-meter telescope in Chile to digitally image the southern sky. This survey - known as the Dark Energy Survey (DES) - will detect 300 million galaxies thus allowing us to measure the clustering of galaxies to high precision and detect the weak gravitational lensing of distant galaxies due to the foreground dark matter. DES will also discover thousands of distant supernovae (exploding stars) which will determine the expansion of the Universe over 70% of its lifetime. We are the only UK astronomy group involved in the new Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) which will measure the redshift (and thus distance) to over 1.5 million galaxies over half the age of the Universe. BOSS started in 2009 and we will use these data to study the evolution of massive galaxies, especially when compared to the latest theoretical models of galaxies produced exclusively at the ICG, understand the effect of host galaxies on supernova explosions and determine the geometry of the Universe to high precision using the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations. In addition to new optical surveys, we plan to harness the power of the next generation of radio telescopes that are just being built. The first of these is LOFAR, which has base stations spread across Europe forming an effective radio telescope over 600 kilometres in size. We will use LOFAR, in conjunction with new data from the SDSS, to study the effects of supermassive black holes on the evolution of elliptical galaxies. The energetic outflows from these black holes has been proposed as a way of slowing down the growth of such galaxies, making them 'red and dead' today. Also, the LOFAR data can be used to understand dark energy through the 'Integrated Sachs-Wolfe' effect, which is particularly sensitive to the rate of growth of structures in the Universe and thus the strength of gravity on cosmological scales. Therefore, LOFAR will be a powerful tool for testing Einstein's Theory of General Relativity which is fundamental to cosmology. Taken together, we expect to measure the density of dark energy over 70% the age of the Universe. This will tell us if it is just a constant, as first proposed by Einstein, or something more exotic like Quintessence, 'phantom energy' or extra dimensions! This data will also shed light on the properties of dark matter, which we can 'see' via gravity but does not shine like normal matter. We will also obtain a fuller understanding of the characteristics of massive galaxies throughout cosmic time. This will tell us whether the cold dark matter theory provides an adequate description of the formation and evolution of galaxies. In addition to research, the ICG staff are committed to public outreach and have been engaged in a number of visible activities in the media and local community. For example, our staff have visited many local schools to discuss their careers, their research (e.g. Galaxy Zoo), and express the fun of doing research.
Publications
Song Y
(2011)
Complementarity of weak lensing and peculiar velocity measurements in testing general relativity
in Physical Review D
Mancini C
(2011)
THE zCOSMOS-SINFONI PROJECT. I. SAMPLE SELECTION AND NATURAL-SEEING OBSERVATIONS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Nordin J
(2011)
EVIDENCE FOR A CORRELATION BETWEEN THE Si II ?4000 WIDTH AND TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA COLOR
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sako M
(2011)
PHOTOMETRIC TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA CANDIDATES FROM THE THREE-YEAR SDSS-II SN SURVEY DATA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ross A
(2011)
Ameliorating systematic uncertainties in the angular clustering of galaxies: a study using the SDSS-III Ameliorating systematic uncertainties in w(?)
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Taylor E
(2011)
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): stellar mass estimates GAMA: stellar mass estimates
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gavazzi R
(2011)
MODELING OF THE HERMES SUBMILLIMETER SOURCE LENSED BY A DARK MATTER DOMINATED FOREGROUND GROUP OF GALAXIES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Thomas J
(2011)
Dynamical masses of early-type galaxies: a comparison to lensing results and implications for the stellar initial mass function and the distribution of dark matter Luminous and dark matter in early-type galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gupta R
(2011)
IMPROVED CONSTRAINTS ON TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA HOST GALAXY PROPERTIES USING MULTI-WAVELENGTH PHOTOMETRY AND THEIR CORRELATIONS WITH SUPERNOVA PROPERTIES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Marriner J
(2011)
A MORE GENERAL MODEL FOR THE INTRINSIC SCATTER IN TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA DISTANCE MODULI
in The Astrophysical Journal
Tojeiro R
(2011)
The stellar evolution of luminous red galaxies, and its dependence on colour, redshift, luminosity and modelling Modelling LRG evolution
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zehavi I
(2011)
GALAXY CLUSTERING IN THE COMPLETED SDSS REDSHIFT SURVEY: THE DEPENDENCE ON COLOR AND LUMINOSITY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hoyle B
(2011)
Galaxy Zoo: bar lengths in local disc galaxies? Galaxy Zoo: bar lengths in nearby disc galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gunawardhana M
(2011)
Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): the star formation rate dependence of the stellar initial mass function IMF-SFR relationship
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Aihara H
(2011)
ERRATUM: "THE EIGHTH DATA RELEASE OF THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY: FIRST DATA FROM SDSS-III" (2011, ApJS, 193, 29)
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Brough S
(2011)
Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): galaxies at the faint end of the Ha luminosity function GAMA: low-Ha-luminosity galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Riess A
(2011)
A 3% SOLUTION: DETERMINATION OF THE HUBBLE CONSTANT WITH THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE AND WIDE FIELD CAMERA 3
in The Astrophysical Journal
Percival WJ
(2011)
Redshift-space distortions.
in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Norris R
(2011)
DEEP SPITZER OBSERVATIONS OF INFRARED-FAINT RADIO SOURCES: HIGH-REDSHIFT RADIO-LOUD ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI?
in The Astrophysical Journal
Afonso J
(2011)
ULTRA STEEP SPECTRUM RADIO SOURCES IN THE LOCKMAN HOLE: SERVS IDENTIFICATIONS AND REDSHIFT DISTRIBUTION AT THE FAINTEST RADIO FLUXES
in The Astrophysical Journal
D'Andrea C
(2011)
SPECTROSCOPIC PROPERTIES OF STAR-FORMING HOST GALAXIES AND TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA HUBBLE RESIDUALS IN A NEARLY UNBIASED SAMPLE
in The Astrophysical Journal
Eisenstein D
(2011)
SDSS-III: MASSIVE SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEYS OF THE DISTANT UNIVERSE, THE MILKY WAY, AND EXTRA-SOLAR PLANETARY SYSTEMS
in The Astronomical Journal
Aihara H
(2011)
THE EIGHTH DATA RELEASE OF THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY: FIRST DATA FROM SDSS-III
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Tojeiro R
(2011)
Disentangling star formation and merger growth in the evolution of luminous red galaxies The growth of luminous red galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Robotham A
(2011)
Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): the GAMA galaxy group catalogue (G3Cv1) GAMA: the GAMA galaxy group catalogue (G3Cv1)
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Driver S
(2011)
Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): survey diagnostics and core data release GAMA
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bureau M
(2011)
The SAURON project - XVIII. The integrated UV-line-strength relations of early-type galaxies The SAURON project - XVIII
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Masters K
(2011)
The morphology of galaxies in the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey The morphology of BOSS galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ross A
(2011)
Measuring redshift-space distortions using photometric surveys RSD with photometric data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Henriques B
(2011)
The effect of thermally pulsating asymptotic giant branch stars on the evolution of the rest-frame near-infrared galaxy luminosity function The rest-frame K-band luminosity function
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Thomas D
(2011)
Chemical abundance ratios of galactic globular clusters from modelling integrated light spectroscopy Chemical element ratios of globular clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Thomas D
(2011)
Flux-calibrated stellar population models of Lick absorption-line indices with variable element abundance ratios Stellar population models of Lick indices
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tonini C
(2011)
The hierarchical build-up of the Tully-Fisher relation The hierarchical build-up of the TF relation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ross A
(2011)
Understanding the faint red galaxy population using large-scale clustering measurements from SDSS DR7 Large-scale clustering of faint red galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Newling J
(2011)
Statistical classification techniques for photometric supernova typing Statistical methods for photometric typing
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wijesinghe D
(2011)
GAMA/H-ATLAS: the ultraviolet spectral slope and obscuration in galaxies UV spectral slope and obscuration
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Maraston C
(2011)
Stellar population models at high spectral resolution High-resolution stellar population models
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Conley A
(2011)
DISCOVERY OF A MULTIPLY LENSED SUBMILLIMETER GALAXY IN EARLY HerMES HERSCHEL/SPIRE * DATA
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Beifiori A
(2011)
On the spectral resolution of the MILES stellar library
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Simmons B
(2012)
Galaxy Zoo: Bulgeless Galaxies With Growing Black Holes
Putter R
(2012)
Thinking outside the box: effects of modes larger than the survey on matter power spectrum covariance
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Mehrtens N
(2012)
The XMM Cluster Survey: optical analysis methodology and the first data release The XMM Cluster Survey first data release
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Foster C
(2012)
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the mass-metallicity relationship
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Tojeiro R
(2012)
The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: measuring structure growth using passive galaxies RSD measurements with passive galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
PERCIVAL W
(2012)
COSMOLOGY FROM GALAXY SURVEYS
in International Journal of Modern Physics D
Description | Research at the ICG has helped understand the formation and evolution of the universe. This information is important to advance our understand of fundamental physics as well as being of great interest and fascination by the general public. |
Exploitation Route | Research at ICG is published in peer-reviewed journals and have received significant citations over the last decade. Researchers at the ICG are some of the highest cited astrophysicists and cosmologists in the UK, showing their work is used and influential (mainly by other academics in our field of research) |
Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Financial Services, and Management Consultancy,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
URL | http://www.icg.port.ac.uk |
Description | Research at the ICG has helped understand the formation and evolution of the universe. This information is important to advance our understand of fundamental physics as well as being of great interest and fascination by the general public. Research on citizen science (GalaxyZoo) has been recently developed for use with commercial company |
First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Financial Services, and Management Consultancy,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |
Description | Continuation of funding as new STFC consolidated grant "Cosmology and Astrophysics at Portsmouth" |
Amount | £1,378,546 (GBP) |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2013 |
End | 04/2015 |
Description | DES |
Organisation | Dark Energy Survey (DES) |
Country | Global |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Scientific leadership and guidance, preparation of scientific simulations and preparations, organisation of meetings and events |
Collaborator Contribution | Access to proprietary data and scientific collaboration |
Impact | Scientific publications (see publication list) |
Start Year | 2006 |
Description | Euclid Consortium |
Organisation | UK Space Agency |
Department | Euclid Consortium |
Country | France |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Scientific and collaboration leadership. Help with design of weak lensing science requirements, scientific coordination of the mission and design of the Euclid deep field |
Collaborator Contribution | Involvement in the design and possible construction of the Euclid satellite mission which is one of three concepts being studied by ESA and the UK space agency. |
Impact | Involvement in many aspects of the Euclid design and management. Involvement in the drafting of the Euclid "Yellow Book". Some funding from the UK Space Agency. |
Start Year | 2008 |
Description | LOFAR |
Organisation | LOFAR |
Country | Netherlands |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Scientific and technical assistance with the funding and installation of a LOFAR antenna array at Chilbolton. Scientific leadership in the use of LOFAR-UK and LOFAR in general |
Collaborator Contribution | Access to proprietary data and UK LOFAR array at Chilbolton. |
Impact | See publications |
Start Year | 2008 |
Description | SDSS |
Organisation | Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III) |
Department | Astrophysical Research Council |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We have collaborated on research including catalogue preparation, database hosting, documentation and SDSS outreach & public understanding |
Collaborator Contribution | Access to unique proprietary data |
Impact | Many peer-reviewed academic publications (see list of publications) |
Start Year | 2006 |
Description | BBC Stargazing Spinnaker Tower Event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Information not available |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
Description | Cosmology Masterclass |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Since 2012 the Cosmology Masterclass has engaged and inspired over 200 A level students with research at the ICG. The Cosmology Masterclass began as a collaboration with The Portsmouth Grammar School in 2010 and is now held annually on campus, with several additional 'mini-Masterclasses' each year at local colleges. - Feedback from the 2013 event was some of the best the University has received for an A level event. - Over the years 13 students have subsequently joined ICG for summer placements of which four cite their experiences at ICG as helping them to decide to pursue STEM subjects at university. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010,2012,2013,2014 |
Description | Scienza Arte Ambiente |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | 1 h of questions after the talk that we had to stop for logistic reasons (the pupils would have continued! Information not available |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | Talk "Mapping the Universe" - Percival inaugural |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Professor Percival's inaugural lecture, attended by VIPs, members of the ICG and the general public The Lecture was recorded. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | University of Portsmouth Year 12 Technology Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Information not available |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | UoP Year 12 Science Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Co-Is have contributed talks to the annual Faculty of Science conference for year 12 students, sparking questions following the talk. Unknown |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2014,2015 |
Description | Year 12 science conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Information not available |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |