Fundamental Physics and Observational Cosmology

这一方案将加深基本宇宙学设想与关于我们宇宙的新观测数据之间的联系，特别是科学和技术中心支持的飞行任务，如普朗克卫星、高级LIGO干涉仪和丽莎使命。我们将对暴胀波动的统计特性进行详细的预测;对于竞争性暴胀情景，我们将计算它们的双谱和三谱（三点和四点分解）。我们将使用我们开发的新的模态估计技术，在宇宙微波背景（CMB）中，特别是在普朗克数据中搜索这些特征签名。我们还将寻找宇宙（超）弦的独特非高斯特征。我们将研究早期宇宙中的剧烈过程所产生的引力波，例如在膨胀结束时，相变和宇宙弦。我们将预测这些信号的特征振幅和频谱的LIGO和丽莎。我们将使用来自宇宙晚期的数据来开发宇宙学常数/暗能量和自然基本常数变化的探测器。我们将使用天文和实验室数据来测试变色标量场的存在，我们将使用N体模拟和精确分析来约束暗能量和修正引力的模型。此外，我们将启动一个新的引力理论项目，研究黑洞的存在，形成和后果。我们研究了旋转黑洞的性质和磁场的影响。我们将研究原始黑洞的形成及其伴随的观测特征。

This programme will develop deeper connections between fundamental cosmological scenarios and new observational data about our Universe, especially STFC-supported missions such as the Planck satellite, the Advanced LIGO interferometer and the LISA mission. We will make detailed predictions about the statistical properties of inflationary fluctuations; for competing inflation scenarios we will calculate their bispectrum and trispectrum (three- and four-point correlators). We will search for these characteristic signatures in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), notably in Planck data, using new modal estimation techniques we have developed. We will also seek out the distinct non-Gaussian signatures of cosmic (super-)strings. We will investigate the gravitational waves that can be generated by violent processes in the early universe, such as at the end of inflation, from phase transitions and from cosmic strings. We will forecast the characteristic amplitude and spectrum of these signals for LIGO and LISA. We will use data from the late universe to develop probes of the cosmological constant/dark energy and the variation of the fundamental constants of nature. We will use astronomical and laboratory data to test for the existence of chameleonic scalar fields and we will constrain models for dark energy and modified gravity using N-body simulations and exact analysis. In addition, we will initiate a new project in gravitational theory, studying the existence, formation and consequences of black holes. We investigate the properties of rotating black holes and the effect of magnetic fields. We will study primordial black-hole formation and its accompanying observational signatures.