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

这是一个雄心勃勃的提议，旨在促进我们对宇宙中观察到的结构的理解，确保在STFC路线图中科学挑战的核心领域发展世界领先的研究：在标准的暴胀范式中，观测到的星系和其他大尺度结构起源于早期宇宙的量子涨落，现在正在使用普朗克卫星和星系调查数据进行越来越精确的探测。我们将从暴胀模型中发展出强有力的预测，并通过对巨大星系调查和宇宙微波图的详细统计分析来测试这些预测。我们还将进一步了解引力坍缩，以更精确地预测宇宙中星系的分布。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学证据在宇宙中的额外标量场，这可能会导致显着修改爱因斯坦的广义相对论或其他签名。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的超新星爆炸时形成。它们以光速在宇宙中传播，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。我们将从数值和分析上研究黑洞的稳定性及其引力波信号的形状，以帮助这项研究。吸积盘的动力学：年轻恒星和黑洞周围的气体盘在宇宙中无处不在，并驱动着一些最迷人和最重要的过程。其中，该项目涉及：黑洞周围和双星星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。我们通过大规模数值模拟来研究气体中的湍流和磁场，从而将这些不同现象联系起来。系外行星的形成、演化和动力学：行星是在年轻恒星周围的尘埃气体盘中形成的。我们将研究可能积聚固体物质的巨型涡旋的性质，研究新形成的行星从周围盘吸积气体时的生长，发现行星如何被周围盘中的波加热，并量化行星与其邻居之间的相互作用。行星、恒星和盘的潮汐相互作用：我们将通过太阳系外行星系统与中央星星的潮汐相互作用来研究它们的长期演化，这种相互作用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，这可以产生大的波动，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.