Survey Cosmology and Astrophysics

宇宙学和天体物理学调查

• 批准号: ST/I001204/1
• 负责人: Robert Nichol
• 金额: $ 125.17万
• 依托单位: University of Portsmouth
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2011 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FI001204%2F1
• 关键词: Survey; Cosmology; Astrophysics

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.

这笔滚动拨款是为了支持朴茨茅斯大学宇宙学与引力研究所(ICG)的宇宙学家和天体物理学家。ICG成立于2002年，由该大学进行战略投资，目前拥有多达50名研究人员，使其成为英国最大的银河系外组织之一。在新技术和新理论的推动下，宇宙学和天体物理学正在经历一个发现的黄金时代。然而，在实现更完整的宇宙模型之前，我们仍然面临两个根本挑战：i)构成宇宙96%的‘暗物质’和‘暗能量’的性质是什么；ii)星系--宇宙的‘基石’--是如何形成和演化的？这笔赠款将通过使用新的大规模天空测量来解决这两个根本问题。例如，我们将在智利的Blanco 4米望远镜上使用一台新的5.2亿像素相机来数字拍摄南方天空。这项被称为暗能量调查(DES)的调查将探测3亿个星系，从而使我们能够高精度地测量星系团，并探测由于前景暗物质而产生的遥远星系的弱引力透镜。DES还将发现数千颗遥远的超新星(正在爆炸的恒星)，这些超新星将决定宇宙在其一生中70%的时间内的膨胀。我们是参与新的斯隆数字天空调查III(SDSS-III)重子振荡光谱调查(BOSS)的唯一英国天文小组，该计划将测量超过宇宙一半年龄的超过150万个星系的红移(因此距离)。BOSS于2009年启动，我们将利用这些数据来研究大质量星系的演化，特别是与ICG独家制作的最新星系理论模型相比，了解宿主星系对超新星爆炸的影响，并利用重子声波振荡高精度地确定宇宙的几何形状。除了新的光学测量，我们还计划利用正在建造的下一代射电望远镜的动力。第一个是LOFAR，它在欧洲各地设有基站，形成了一个大小超过600公里的有效射电望远镜。我们将利用LOFAR，结合SDSS的新数据，研究超大质量黑洞对椭圆星系演化的影响。从这些黑洞流出的能量被认为是减缓此类星系增长的一种方式，使它们今天变得“红色和死亡”。此外，LOFAR的数据还可以用来通过‘集成萨克斯-沃尔夫’效应来理解暗能量，该效应对宇宙中结构的生长速度特别敏感，从而对宇宙尺度上的引力强度特别敏感。因此，LOFAR将是检验爱因斯坦广义相对论的有力工具，广义相对论是宇宙学的基础。总而言之，我们预计将测量宇宙年龄的70%以上的暗能量密度。这将告诉我们，它是像爱因斯坦最先提出的那样只是一个常量，还是像QuintEssence这样更奇特的东西，“幽灵能量”或额外的维度！这些数据还将揭示暗物质的性质，我们可以通过重力“看到”暗物质，但它不像正常物质那样发光。我们还将对整个宇宙时间中大质量星系的特征有一个更全面的了解。这将告诉我们冷暗物质理论是否对星系的形成和演化提供了足够的描述。除研究工作外，国际导航卫星委员会工作人员还致力于公共宣传，并在媒体和当地社区开展了一些显眼的活动。例如，我们的工作人员走访了当地许多学校，讨论了他们的职业、他们的研究(例如银河动物园)，并表达了做研究的乐趣。

项目成果

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Cosmological constraints from cluster abundances and weak lensing

暗能量调查第一年结果：星团丰度和弱透镜效应的宇宙学限制

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.102.023509
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Physical Review D
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: Abbott T

Dark Energy Survey year 1 results: Cosmological constraints from galaxy clustering and weak lensing

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.98.043526
• 发表时间: 2017-08
• 期刊: Physical Review D
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: T. Abbott;F. Abdalla;A. Alarcon;J. Aleksić;S. Allam;S. Allen;A. Amara;J. Annis;J. Asorey-J.-As

The Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO): a white paper

• DOI: 10.1088/1748-0221/16/08/p08035
• 发表时间: 2020-10
• 期刊: Journal of Instrumentation
• 影响因子: 1.3
• 作者: Q. Abarr;P. Allison;J. Ammerman Yebra;J. Alvarez-Muñiz;J. Beatty;D. Besson;P. Chen;Y. Chen;C. Xie;J. Clem;A. Connolly;L. Cremonesi;C. Deaconu;J. Flaherty;D. Frikken;P. Gorham;C. Hast;C. Hornhuber;J. Huang;K. Hughes;A. Hynous;Y. Ku;C. Kuo;T. Liu;Z. Martin;C. Miki;J. Nam;R. Nichol;K. Nishimura;A. Novikov;A. Nozdrina;E. Oberla;S. Prohira;R. Prechelt;B. Rauch;J. M. Roberts;A. Romero-Wolf;J. W. Russell;D. Seckel;J. Shiao;D. Smith;D. Southall;G. Varner;A. Vieregg;S. Wang;Y. Wang;S. Wissel;R. Young;E. Zas;A. Zeolla

Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Near Detector Conceptual Design Report

深层地下中微子实验（DUNE）近探测器概念设计报告

• DOI: 10.3390/instruments5040031
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Instruments
• 作者: Manly, Steven;Kordosky, Mike;On behalf of the DUNE Collaboration, null
• 通讯作者: On behalf of the DUNE Collaboration, null

First results on ProtoDUNE-SP liquid argon time projection chamber performance from a beam test at the CERN Neutrino Platform

• DOI: 10.1088/1748-0221/15/12/p12004
• 发表时间: 2020-12-01
• 期刊: JOURNAL OF INSTRUMENTATION
• 影响因子: 1.3
• 作者: Abi, B.;Abud, A. Abed;Zwaska, R.
• 通讯作者: Zwaska, R.