The research programme in astronomy theory at Newcastle University

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The proposed research programme in astronomy theory (AT) at Newcastle University includes six projects. Their unifying theme is the focus on hydrodynamic (HD) and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) processes, ranging in scale from planets to the large-scale cosmological structure. Newcastle is an internationally leading research centre in the area of astrophysical HD and, especially, MHD. The proposed research involves a wide range of physical processes and a wide range of models and tools, including effective field theory models in cosmology, and analytical MHD models and state-of-the-art numerical simulations for a range of astrophysical objects in a variety of geometries. All of the proposed work also includes extensive comparisons with the latest observations.The proposed programme will contribute to several research areas of strategic importance, including problems identified in STFC's Big Questions of the Science Roadmap:A:2 How did structure first form? (Project 1: Field theory approach to cosmological large-scale structure)A:3 What are the roles of dark matter and dark energy? (Project 1)A:5 How do galaxies evolve? (Project 2: Magnetic fields and cosmic rays in high-redshift and nearby spiral galaxies, Project 3: Interstellar and intergalactic random magnetic fields, and Project 4: Internal gravity waves in massive stars)A:6 How do stars form and how do they evolve? (Project 4 and Project 5: Dynamical modelling of glitches in pulsars)B.1 How common are planetary systems and is ours typical? (Project 6: Magnetism in hot Jupiters)C:7 High energy gamma and cosmic ray astronomy (Project 2)D:1 How do the laws of physics work when driven to the extremes? (Project 5)