Consolidated Grant Astronomy Observation and Theory 2019-2022

这项提案是一个单一的统一补助金，以支持在剑桥天文研究所（IOA）的理论和观测天文学和天体物理学的大部分研究。在最大的尺度上，该提案包括通过新的地面望远镜对宇宙微波背景的精确观测，DES和DESI星系巡天测量星系的三维位置，和新技术的发展，以获得强大的约束宇宙膨胀的历史，从遥远的观测，超新星。今天的宇宙充满了星系，其中我们自己的银河系是一个不典型的例子。要全面了解星系的形成和演化，需要多方面的研究。对银河系和它的本星系群伴星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的研究人员领导了欧空局盖亚空间使命数据处理的关键部分，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（比第一次发布的数据增加了一千倍）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120亿年的回望时间，提供了对星系种群演化以及恒星和金属随宇宙时间的积累的直接测量。来自这些第一个星系的光可能导致星系际介质中氢的再电离，当时宇宙的年龄不到10亿年。模拟这一过程需要复杂的流体动力学模拟，包括辐射传输效应，这也是本提案的进一步重点。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学。超大质量黑洞的形成和性质及其与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观测计划。在星系内的小得多的尺度上，该赠款侧重于通过对原行星盘（利用阿尔马的高分辨率成像）及其相关碎片盘的演变进行理论建模来形成行星系统，并侧重于太阳系外行星的大气和地质。

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.