A Programme of Technology, Astrophysics and Cosmology in Cardiff 2012-14

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We propose a programme of technology development for Astrophysics and Cosmology, along with implementation of technology developed in Cardiff for world-leading projects to investigate star and planet formation in our own and other galaxies, how galaxies form and evolve, and how the Universe we see around us today originated in the big bang. We will continue to develop the world's most sensitive detectors for very long infrared wavelengths, along with associated optical components utilising 'metamaterials' the class of materials designed and manufactured by human beings to have the properties best suited to their task, rather than relying on naturally occurring minerals and plastics. Both of these areas of technology development have potential wide applications outside of Astronomy, in areas such as security scanners and bio-medical imaging for example. The technologies used for imaging can also be extended to undertake spectroscopy, and we propose a programme to develop the capability to obtain a spectrum of every point in a large area image of the sky, which is essential for understanding how far away the objects found in deep surveys are, but also what the conditions in the gas that make up these objects are. We also propose to develop the technique of interferometry, where two separate telescopes are combined to create high angular resolution, for far-infrared wavelengths and to participate in a US-led balloon interferometer experiment. Finally we propose to participate in the Ebex balloon experiment to measure the so-called B-mode polarization signal in the cosmic microwave background, which if found will show us how inflation, the rapid expansion at the very beginning of the Universe, occurred.