Astrophysics and Cosmology Research at the JBCA 2020-2023
Lead Research Organisation:
The 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.
Publications
Kwon W
(2022)
B-fields in Star-forming Region Observations (BISTRO): Magnetic Fields in the Filamentary Structures of Serpens Main
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lamagna L
(2020)
Progress Report on the Large-Scale Polarization Explorer
in Journal of Low Temperature Physics
Larsen B
(2024)
The NANOGrav 15 yr Data Set: Chromatic Gaussian Process Noise Models for Six Pulsars
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lawrence A
(2022)
The case for space environmentalism
in Nature Astronomy
Leauthaud A
(2022)
Lensing without borders - I. A blind comparison of the amplitude of galaxy-galaxy lensing between independent imaging surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lee E
(2022)
A multisimulation study of relativistic SZ temperature scalings in galaxy clusters and groups
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lee E
(2022)
Refined modelling of the radio SZ signal: kinematic terms, relativistic temperature corrections, and anisotropies in the radio background
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lee S
(2022)
Probing gravity with the DES-CMASS sample and BOSS spectroscopy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lee S
(2022)
Galaxy-galaxy lensing with the DES-CMASS catalogue: measurement and constraints on the galaxy-matter cross-correlation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lemos P
(2021)
Assessing tension metrics with dark energy survey and Planck data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Levin L
(2020)
The radio pulsar population of the Small Magellanic Cloud
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Li Y
(2021)
H i intensity mapping with MeerKAT: 1/f noise analysis
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Liccardo V
(2022)
The BINGO project IV. Simulations for mission performance assessment and preliminary component separation steps
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lim S
(2021)
Is there enough star formation in simulated protoclusters?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Liu K
(2022)
Detection of quasi-periodic micro-structure in three millisecond pulsars with the Large European Array for Pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Liu Y
(2022)
Long-term scintillation studies of EPTA pulsars I. Observations and basic results
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Liu Y
(2024)
Measuring glitch recoveries and braking indices with Bayesian model selection
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
Lower M
(2021)
The impact of glitches on young pulsar rotational evolution
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lykou F
(2023)
A New Study on a Type Iax Stellar Remnant and its Probable Association with SN 1181
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lyo A
(2021)
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: An 850/450 µm Polarization Study of NGC 2071IR in Orion B
in The Astrophysical Journal
MacCrann N
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Y3 results: blending shear and redshift biases in image simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Main R
(2023)
The Thousand Pulsar Array programme on MeerKAT - X. Scintillation arcs of 107 pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Main R
(2020)
Measuring interstellar delays of PSR J0613-0200 over 7 yr, using the Large European Array for Pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Makhathini S
(2021)
The Panchromatic Afterglow of GW170817: The Full Uniform Data Set, Modeling, Comparison with Previous Results, and Implications
in The Astrophysical Journal
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
Manning S
(2020)
SuperCLASS - II. Photometric redshifts and characteristics of spatially resolved µ Jy radio sources
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Margalef-Bentabol B
(2022)
Observations of the initial formation and evolution of spiral galaxies at 1 < z < 3 in the CANDELS fields
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Marshall A
(2022)
A fresh look at AGN spectral energy distribution fitting with the XMM-SERVS AGN sample
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Martín S
(2021)
ALCHEMI, an ALMA Comprehensive High-resolution Extragalactic Molecular Inventory Survey presentation and first results from the ACA array
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Massardi M
(2021)
The Additional Representative Images for Legacy (ARI-L) Project for the ALMA Science Archive
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Massari D
(2024)
Euclid: Early Release Observations -- Unveiling the morphology of two Milky Way globular clusters out to their periphery
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mata Sánchez D
(2023)
Astrophysical entomology: dissecting the black widow population through multi-band light curve modelling
in Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Mata Sánchez D
(2023)
A black widow population dissection through HiPERCAM multiband light-curve modelling
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Matthews S
(2021)
The high-energy Sun - probing the origins of particle acceleration on our nearest star
in Experimental Astronomy
Mawdsley B
(2020)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Wide-field mass maps via forward fitting in harmonic space
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
McBride V
(2020)
Imbalance learning for variable star classification
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McCallum N
(2021)
Spin-based removal of instrumental systematics in 21 cm intensity mapping surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McCallum N
(2022)
Fast map-based simulations of systematics in CMB surveys including effects of the scanning strategy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| Title | IPTA DR2 - GWB analysis MCMC output |
| Description | IPTA DR2 common red noise, MCMC output These files are the primary output from a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling process. They are samples from the posterior probability distribution for a particular model described in the companion paper. Each zipped tarball contains four files. The "chain" file has several tab-separated columns, each of which corresponds to a model parameter, except the last four which are metadata. The parameter names (including metadata) are listed in the companion "params" file. The frequencies used in the common red noise models are listed in the "crn_frequencies" file. Additional information is provided in a README file. Each row of the chain file is one sample from the model posterior. The first samples at the beginning of the MCMC are the "burn-in" phase, before the chain has converged to the posterior. We recommend discarding the first ~25% of samples before using them to make inferences. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/5787556 |