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

伯明翰大学天体物理学：2016-2019 年综合补助金

• 批准号: ST/N000633/1
• 负责人: Alberto Vecchio
• 金额: $ 240.06万
• 依托单位: University of Birmingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2016 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FN000633%2F1
• 关键词: Astrophysics; University; Birmingham; Consolidated; Grant

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.

我们关于宇宙的大部分知识都来自科学家所说的“电磁辐射”，从无线电波到红外辐射和光，再到X射线和伽马射线。这种情况即将改变，因为我们即将首次探测到被称为引力波的时空涟漪，这是爱因斯坦的广义相对论所预测的。伯明翰天体物理学和空间研究小组在这些发展中发挥着关键作用，并准备利用合并黑洞和中子星的信号来更多地了解恒星，黑洞的演化，并测试我们对引力本身的理解。我们也正在开发先进的技术，这将是未来在探测引力波方面进行改进所必需的，以便能够研究弱得多的信号。更传统的仪器在不同尺度上探测遥远宇宙和宇宙结构、星系和星系团的能力继续提高。我们将使用一些最精致的观测来推进我们对星系和星系团如何在宇宙时间中形成和演化的理解。天体物理学中的一个热门话题是努力理解神秘的“暗能量”，它为宇宙的加速膨胀提供动力。我们计划使用星系团作为宇宙结构和膨胀历史的最大尺度探测器，以促进我们对暗能量性质的理解。了解这些系统的性质，它们是如何形成的，以及它们如何生存，对于确定太阳系外存在什么样的行星，并最终确定生命可以在哪里发展至关重要。我们将使用复杂的计算机模拟来探索这些系统的不同种群的特征，并推断出迄今为止收集的数据中（目前）未观察到的同伴的存在。在星系中，质量最大的恒星会产生重大影响，这是因为它们辐射出的能量非常高，而且它们的恒星风也很强大。这些恒星中的磁场起着重要作用，而且很难估计有多少物质在风中从这些恒星中流走。我们计划将联合收割机与不同波长的观测结合起来，以提高我们对磁场对大质量恒星、恒星风及其周围环境的影响有多大的理解。

项目成果

First Low-Frequency Einstein@Home All-Sky Search for Continuous Gravitational Waves in Advanced LIGO Data

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.96.122004
• 发表时间: 2017-07
• 期刊: Physical Review D
• 影响因子: 5

All-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the O1 LIGO data

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.96.062002
• 发表时间: 2017-07
• 期刊: Physical Review D
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: B. Abbott;R. Abbott;R. Adhikari;A. Ananyeva;S. Anderson;S. Appert;K. Arai;M. Araya;J. Barayo

Properties of the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevx.9.011001
• 发表时间: 2019-01-02
• 期刊: PHYSICAL REVIEW X
• 影响因子: 12.5
• 作者: Abbott, B. P.;Abbott, R.;Zweizig, J.
• 通讯作者: Zweizig, J.

Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger

双中子星合并的多信使观测

• DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/aa91c9
• 发表时间: 2017-10-20
• 期刊: ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
• 影响因子: 7.9
• 作者: Abbott, B. P.;Abbott, R.;Woudt, P. A.
• 通讯作者: Woudt, P. A.

Binary Black Hole Population Properties Inferred from the First and Second Observing Runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo

• DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ab3800
• 发表时间: 2019-09-10
• 期刊: ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
• 影响因子: 7.9
• 作者: Abbott, B. P.;Abbott, R.;Zweizig, J.
• 通讯作者: Zweizig, J.