Support of the Astronomical Research of the Cavendish Astrophysics Group

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This proposal requests support for the Cavendish Astrophysics (CA) group in Cambridge. Our research has a strong emphasis on observational astrophysics, backed by fundamental theoretical work, a substantial track-record in Bayesian data analysis, and extensive expertise in technologies that span the spectrum from radio to near-infrared wavelengths. We aim to work in a number of thematic areas where we have contributed significantly either experimentally or via leadership roles, or where we will be developing new technologies for next generation experiments in astrophysics.Theme 1 - Galaxy formation and Evolution: we will exploit our access to new proprietary data from JWST's NIRSpec instrument and the MOONS multi-object spectrograph to investigate the chemical enrichment of galaxies from the time they were formed, at Cosmic Dawn, through to more recent epochs. This will use new measurements ofgalactic metallicities from redshifts 9 through 0.7, and will explore the impact of the galactic environment on the chemical evolution of galaxies and the extent to whichdifferent feedback mechanisms, e.g., accretion from the intergalactic medium, play a role in this process.Theme 3 - Exoplanet discovery: we will build on our expertise in precision radial-velocity measurement to lead the search for Earth-like exoplanets.We will perform the first analysis of data from the Terra Hunting Experiment, a 10-year survey of nearby stars with the HARPS-3 spectrograph at the Isaac Newton Telescope using an in-depth characterisation of the instrument and new statistical techniques to reduce false detections arising from instrumental effects. In a parallel study, we will combine data from the HARPS-N spectrograph with new data from the TESS satellite to fully characterise potential planets around nearby K dwarfs, usingnew methods to remove spurious detections resulting from stellar instabilities which can easily mimic the signatures of low-mass planets.