Consolidated Grant Astronomy Observation and Theory 2019-2022

这项建议是为支持剑桥天文研究所(IOA)在理论和观测天文学及天体物理学方面的大部分研究而提供的单一综合赠款。在最大的尺度上，该提议包括通过使用新的地面望远镜精确观测宇宙微波背景，测量DES和DESI星系调查测量的星系的3D位置，以及开发新的技术来通过观测遥远的超新星来获得对宇宙扩张历史的强有力的约束，从而了解宇宙本身的起源和演化。今天的宇宙充满了星系，我们的银河系就是一个很典型的例子。要全面了解星系的形成和演化，需要多条攻击线。对银河系及其本地群伴星中已分解的恒星群的观测提供了详细的化石记录，记录了星系的动力学组装、恒星的形成以及在广泛的质量尺度和初始条件下重元素的积累。IOA的研究人员领导着欧空局盖亚太空任务的关键数据处理部分，该任务正在以前所未有的精度和数量对银河系进行调查。该提案中的几个项目将利用盖亚即将发布的第二次数据(数据比第一次发布增加了1000倍)来了解银河系及其同伴的动态。在尺度的另一端，对遥远星系的观测跨越了长达120亿年的回顾时间，提供了对星系群的演化以及恒星和金属随宇宙时间的积累的直接测量。当宇宙的年龄不到10亿年时，来自第一批星系的光很可能导致了星际介质中氢的再电离。模拟这一过程需要复杂的流体力学模拟，包括辐射传递效应，这也是这一提议的进一步重点。现在人们认识到，星系的演化与位于银河系和其他星系中心的超大质量黑洞的起源和性质之间存在着密切的联系。接近黑洞的区域允许在极端情况下探索物理。超大质量黑洞的形成和性质及其与其所在星系的关系是一个研究主题，涉及理论高能天体物理学和赠款中的观测方案。在星系内小得多的尺度上，赠款侧重于通过原行星盘演化的理论模拟(利用ALMA的高分辨率成像)及其相关碎片盘，以及太阳系外行星的大气层和地质来形成行星系统。

This proposal is for a single Consolidated Grant to support the majority of research in Theoretical and Observational Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Institute of Astronomy (IoA) in Cambridge. On the largest scales, the proposal includes work to understand the origin and evolution of the Universe itself through precision observations of the cosmic microwave background with new ground-based telescopes, measurements of the 3D positions of galaxies measured with the DES and DESI galaxy surveys, and the development of new techniques to obtain robust constraints on the history of the expansion of the Universe from observations of distant supernovae.The Universe today is filled with galaxies, of which our own Milky Way is a not atypical example. A full understanding of galaxy formation and evolution requires multiple lines of attack. Observations of the resolved stellar populations in the Milky Way and its Local Group companions provide a detailed fossil record of the dynamical assemblies of the galaxies, the formation of stars, and the buildup of heavy elements over a wide range of mass scales and initial conditions. Researchers at the IoA lead key parts of the data processing for the ESA Gaia space mission, which is performing a survey of the Milky Way with unprecedented precision and volume. Several projects in this proposal will exploit the forthcoming second data release from Gaia (a thousand-fold increase in data over the first release) to understand the dynamics of the Galaxy and its companions. At the other end of the scale, observations of distant galaxies spanning lookback times of up to 12 billion years provide direct measurements of the evolution of galaxy populations and the buildup of stars and metals with cosmic time. The light from these first galaxies likely led to the reionization of hydrogen in the intergalactic medium, when the age of the Universe was less than one billion years. Modelling this process requires sophisticated hydrodynamical simulations, including radiative transfer effects, and is a further focus of this proposal.It is now recognised that there is an intimate link between the evolution of galaxies and the origin and properties of super-massive black holes, which reside at the centre of the Milky Way and other galaxies. The regions close to black holes allow the exploration of physics at the extremes. The formation and properties of super-massive black holes and their relation to the galaxies in which they reside is a research theme that involves theoretical high-energy astrophysics and observational programmes in the grant. On much smaller scales within galaxies, the grant focusses of the formation of planetary systems through theoretical modelling of the evolution of protoplanetary disks (exploiting high-resolution imaging with ALMA) and their associated debris disks, and on the atmospheres and geology of extrasolar planets.