Astronomy at Queen Mary 2023-2026

-早期宇宙经历了一段加速膨胀的时期，产生了密度波动，导致了星系的分布。我们将对膨胀进行数值模拟，以计算由这些密度起伏引起的引力波背景，以及当这些小的密度起伏完全崩溃时形成的黑洞数量。--爱因斯坦引力理论的测试在一系列令人兴奋的新系统中成为可能，从宇宙中最大的尺度到遥远的天体物理系统。我们将创造将新的观测与本地测试相结合的方法，以在广泛的时空范围内获得对重力的最佳约束。--大型结构调查将在足够大的尺度上绘制宇宙图，以发现新的相对论效应。这些污染了通货膨胀的原始信号，但也为检验广义相对论提供了新的机会。我们将研究新的模拟，以了解这些星系的分布情况。--我们将用高导数修正的引力理论研究早期宇宙的引力动力学，并研究它们对暴涨时空的影响。这些修正通常源于量子引力理论，因此在早期宇宙中是至关重要的。--测量宽大双星的速度可以区分修正引力和暗物质。在开发这项测试时，我们将对关键高速系统进行新的观测和建模。--早期宇宙充满了中性氢气，通过绘制分布图，我们可以对第一批恒星进行建模。我们将开发新的方法，将来自中性氢的非常微弱的射电发射与来自我们自己的星系和其他星系的非常明亮的射电发射分开。--行星的形成发生在年轻恒星周围的气体和尘埃的圆盘中。我们将开发这些圆盘的模型，并研究嵌入其中的行星如何与它们相互作用，以便了解行星的轨道如何变化，以及它们如何在生长过程中从周围的圆盘中吸收质量。--建造公里大小的行星是一场与时间的赛跑。厘米-米大小的鹅卵石高速向恒星漂移，因此需要迅速将它们收集到行星体中。我们将进行详细的模拟，以确定行星体是否可以以这种方式形成。--行星形成星团中的大质量恒星发出大量的紫外线辐射，加热和驱散行星形成的圆盘。我们将开发这些圆盘如何被辐射和剥离材料的3D模拟，这将对行星出生环境产生开创性的影响。-年轻的凌日行星为了解行星系统的形成和早期演化提供了一个窗口。我们将测量年轻行星的质量，描述它们的大气层，解开它们的动力学历史，并确定它们的年龄，以提供对它们的形成和早期演化的新见解。--我们将用完全广义相对论中的相对论粒子模拟来描述在黑洞周围的强引力环境中形成的暗物质结构。我们将研究偏心率、自旋和不等质量比对吸积的暗物质云的影响。--我们将开发一种新的战略，通过观察黑洞距离对称状态的距离来研究它们。这种方法将在最先进的黑洞数值模拟中进行测试，目的是从现有的观测中提取新的信息。--理解中子星和其他密度非常高的恒星及其碰撞需要在完全广义相对论中对流体进行复杂的建模。这是非常复杂的，特别是在这些物体的表面。我们将制定新的方案来解决这个问题，建立新的模拟来测试我们的方法。

-- The early universe underwent a period of accelerated inflation generating density fluctuations sourcing the distribution of galaxies. We will model inflation numerically to calculate the gravitational wave background due to these density fluctuations and the amount of black holes formed when these small density fluctuations collapse completely.-- Tests of Einstein's theory of gravity are becoming possible in a range of exciting new systems, from the largest scales in the Universe to distant astrophysical systems. We will create ways of combining new observations with local tests to gain the best constraints on gravity, over a vast range of spatial and temporal scales.-- Large-scale structure surveys will map the universe on scales large enough to detect new relativistic effects. These contaminate primordial signals of inflation, but also provide new opportunities for testing general relativity. We will investigate new simulations to understand these in the distribution of galaxies. -- We will investigate the gravitational dynamics of the early Universe in theories of gravity with higher derivative corrections and study their impact on inflationary spacetimes. These corrections generically arise from theories of quantum gravity so are critical in the early Universe. -- Measurements of velocities of wide binary stars can discriminate modified gravity vs dark matter. We will perform new observations and modeling of critical high-velocity systems in developing this test. -- The early Universe was filled with neutral hydrogen gas, and by mapping the distribution we can model the first stars. We will develop new ways to separate the very faint radio emission from neutral hydrogen from much brighter emission from our own galaxy and others.-- Planet formation occurs in the discs of gas and dust that are found around young stars. We will develop models of these discs and examine how embedded planets interact with them, in order to understand how the orbits of the planets change and how they accrete mass from the surrounding disc as they grow.-- Building km-sized planetesimals is a race against time. Pebbles of cm-m in size drift towards the star at high speed, so collecting them into planetesimals needs to proceed quickly. We will perform detailed simulations to determine if planetesimals can form this way. -- Massive stars in planet-forming clusters emit copious amounts of UV radiation that heat and disperse planet-forming discs. We will develop 3D simulations of how these discs are irradiated and stripped of material with ground-breaking implications for planetary birth environments. -- Young transiting planets offer a window onto the formation and early evolution of planetary systems. We will measure young planet masses, characterise their atmospheres, unravel their dynamical histories, and determine their ages to provide new insights into their formation and early evolution.-- We will characterise dark matter structures that form in strong gravity environments around black holes using simulations of relativistic particles in full general relativity. We will investigate the effects of eccentricity, spin, and unequal mass ratios on the dark matter cloud that is accreted.-- We will develop a new strategy for the study of black holes by looking at how far away they are from a symmetric state. This approach will be tested in state-of-the art numerical simulations of black holes with the aim of extracting new information from available observations.-- Understanding neutron stars and other very dense stars and their collisions requires intricate modeling of fluids in full general relativity. This is extremely complicated, especially at the surface of these bodies. We will formulate new schemes to solve this problem, building new simulations to test our approach.