Astrophysics at the University of Birmingham: Consolidated Grant 2016-2019

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Most of our knowledge about the Universe at large has been derived from what scientists refer to as "electromagnetic radiation", ranging from radio waves through infrared radiation and light, to X-rays and gamma rays. This is about to change, since we are on the brink of the first detection of the ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves, which are predicted by Einstein's theory of General Relativity. The Birmingham Astrophysics and Space Research Group is playing a key role in these developments, and is preparing to use the signals from merging black holes and neutron stars to learn more about the evolution of stars, black holes and to test our understanding of gravity itself. We are also developing the advanced technology which will be required to make future improvements in detecting gravitational waves, so that much weaker signals can be studied.The capabilities of more conventional instruments to probe the distant Universe and cosmic structures at different scales, galaxies and galaxy clusters, continue to improve. We will use some of the most exquisite observations to advance our understanding of how galaxies and clusters form and evolve through cosmic time. A hot topic in astrophysics is the effort to understand the mysterious "dark energy" which powers the accelerating expansion of the Universe. We plan to use clusters of galaxies as probes of the structure and expansion history of the Universe on the largest scales, to advance our understanding of the nature of dark energy.A few thousand exoplanets have been discovered in our solar neighbourhood. Understanding the properties of these systems, how the formed and how they can survive is of crucial importance to determine what kind of planets exists outside our Solar System, and, ultimately, determine where life could develop. We will use sophisticated computer simulations to explore the characteristics of different populations of these systems, and to infer the presence of (presently) unobserved companions in the data that have been gathered so far. Within galaxies, the most massive stars have a major impact due to the very high power they radiate, and due to their powerful stellar winds. The magnetic field in these stars plays a major role, and it is surprisingly difficult to estimate how much matter is streaming away from such stars in a wind. We plan to combine computer modelling with observations at different wavelengths to improve our understanding of just how big an impact the magnetic field has on massive stars, their winds and the effects on their surroundings.