Revealing the Structure of the Universe: From Extreme Gravity to Exoplanets

这是一项雄心勃勃的提议，旨在促进我们对在我们宇宙中观察到的结构的理解，确保在对STFC路线图中的科学挑战至关重要的领域开展世界领先的研究：面对膨胀情景：标准膨胀范式，其中所观测到的星系和其他大型结构源于早期宇宙中的量子涨落，现在正在利用普朗克卫星和星系测量数据以越来越高的精度进行探索。我们将从膨胀模型中开发出可靠的预测，并通过对巨大的星系调查和宇宙微波地图的详细统计分析来测试这些预测。我们还将提高对引力坍缩的理解，以便更准确地预测星系在我们宇宙中的分布。宇宙中的标量场：从理论到观测：我们将探索天文观测如何提供有关基础物理的新信息。特别是，我们将调查是否有天文证据表明宇宙中存在额外的标量场，这可能会导致爱因斯坦广义相对论或其他签名的重大修改。我们将对星系团进行N体模拟，以做出精确的观测预测。黑洞和引力物理学：引力波是时空中的涟漪，当黑洞或中子星合并或恒星超新星爆炸时形成。它们以光速在宇宙中传播，并将使我们能够用引力波探测器以一种全新的方式观察宇宙，比如目前正在监听这些信号的高级LIGO。我们将用数值和解析的方法研究黑洞的稳定性及其引力波信号的形状，以帮助进行这项研究。吸积盘的动力学：年轻恒星和黑洞周围的气态盘在宇宙中无处不在，并驱动着宇宙中一些最迷人和最重要的过程。这个项目解决了这些问题：黑洞周围和双星系统中圆盘的翘曲，新生恒星系统和矮新星的巨大能量爆发，以及黑洞周围发光圆盘的高频振荡。连接这些不同现象的主线是气体中的湍流和磁场，我们通过大规模的数值模拟对其进行研究。系外行星的形成、演化和动力学：行星是在年轻恒星周围尘土飞扬的气态圆盘中形成的。我们将研究可能积累固体物质的巨型涡旋的性质，检查新形成的行星在从周围圆盘吸收气体时的增长，发现行星是如何被周围圆盘中的波加热的，并量化行星与其邻居之间的相互作用。行星、恒星和圆盘的潮汐相互作用：我们将通过与中央恒星的潮汐相互作用来研究太阳系外行星系统的长期演化，这会影响自转和轨道运动，并可能导致行星膨胀、向内迁移甚至被摧毁。我们还将研究行星与原行星盘的引力相互作用，这可能会产生大波，导致椭圆运动或完全截断盘。

This is an ambitious proposal to advance our understanding of the structures observed in our Universe, ensuring the development of world-leading research in areas central to the Science Challenges in the STFC roadmap:Confronting inflationary scenarios: The standard inflationary paradigm, in which the observed galaxies and other large-scale structure originated from quantum fluctuations in the early universe, is now being probed with increasing precision using Planck satellite and galaxy survey data. We will develop robust predictions from inflationary models and test these with a detailed statistical analysis of huge galaxy surveys and cosmic microwave maps. We will also advance our understanding of gravitational collapse to more precisely predict the distribution of galaxies in our Universe.Scalar fields in the universe: from theory to observation: We will explore how astronomical observations can provide new information about fundamental physics. In particular, we will investigate whether there is astronomical evidence for additional scalar fields in the Universe which might lead to significant modifications to Einstein's theory of general relativity or other signatures. We will perform N-body simulations of clusters of galaxies to make precise observational predictions. Black Holes and Gravitational Physics: Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime which form when black holes or neutron stars merge or in the supernova explosion of stars. They propagate across the universe at the speed of light and will enable us to view the universe in a qualitatively new way with gravitational wave detectors, like Advanced LIGO which are currently listening for these signals. We will study numerically and analytically the stability of black holes and the shape of their gravitational wave signals to help in this search. Dynamics of Accretion Discs: Gaseous discs around young stars and black holes are ubiquitous in the Universe and drive some of its most fascinating and important processes. Of these this project addresses: warping of discs around black holes and in binary star systems, the great outbursts of energy that characterise nascent stellar systems and dwarf novae, and high-frequency oscillations from luminous discs around black holes. The thread linking these diverse phenomena is turbulence and magnetic fields in the gas, which we study through large-scale numerical simulations.Formation, Evolution and Dynamics of Exoplanets: Planets are formed in dusty gaseous discs around young stars. We will study the properties of giant vortices in which solid material may be accumulated, examine the growth of newly formed planets as they accrete gas from the surrounding disc, discover how planets are heated by waves in the surrounding disc, and quantify the interactions between planets and their neighbours.Tidal Interactions of Planets, Stars and Discs: We will study the long-term evolution of extrasolar planetary systems through their tidal interactions with the central star, which affect the spin and orbital motion and can cause planets to swell, migrate inwards and even be destroyed. We will also study the gravitational interactions of planets with the protoplanetary disc, which can generate large waves, cause elliptical motion or completely truncate the disc.