Lancaster University: Observational Astrophysics PATT grant 2020-2022

天体物理学是研究天体及其所处的宇宙的物理性质的学科。兰开斯特大学的天体物理学小组于2015年在物理系内成立，补充了理论粒子宇宙学以及空间和行星物理小组。这个新团队的研究主要是观测性的，解决了天体物理学中一些最重要的公开问题，大致围绕着理解星系的形成和演化、它们的中心黑洞和宇宙本身的性质。该小组对星系和超大质量黑洞的研究包括对相对较近的星系和星系团的详细研究，直到搜索可观测到的最远的星系。通过这些研究，我们可以探索宇宙中形成的最早的系统。对宇宙性质的相关研究包括测量宇宙的膨胀率和几何形状等宇宙学参数，以及宇宙成分的相对分数和性质，包括普通物质和神秘的暗物质和暗能量。最近，随着新的工作人员加入(西蒙斯，沃德洛和皮特金)，我们扩大到研究早期宇宙中一些最活跃和尘埃最多的恒星形成星系，但我们也研究引力波天文学，特别是脉冲星。我们的研究涉及使用世界上最强大的望远镜，如哈勃太空望远镜和欧洲南方天文台的设施，包括ALMA和VLT，以及LIGO和处女座进行最先进的观测。与此同时，该小组还参与了几个新望远镜和仪器的科学规划，这些望远镜和仪器将在未来5-10年内上线，这将给天体物理学的研究带来革命性的变化。其中包括将安装在Vista望远镜上的4MOST光谱仪、鲁宾天文台(直径8米的勘测望远镜)、40米欧洲极大望远镜和欧空局的欧几里得任务(宇宙学的宽视场望远镜)和詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜。兰开斯特的主要研究课题包括：-星系和超大质量黑洞的共同演化；星系形态；公民科学，星系动物园；-星系的形成和演化；发射线星系；高红移星系；再电离；宇宙的恒星形成历史；早期的ISM和金属浓缩；-亚毫米星系-作为宇宙学探测器的超新星；宇宙学参数；暗能量；-积分场光谱；星系团和类星体吸收线研究；-未来望远镜和仪器的科学规划；-来自脉冲星的连续引力波信号。在这项提议中，我们正在申请延长我们的Patt补助金，以继续支持我们的观测天体物理学小组。这笔拨款将用于支付兰开斯特所有研究人员在PATT批准的望远镜上观察运行的旅费和生活费。尽管我们的员工数量现在翻了一番，但更多的运行是远程进行的，因此我们这次要求减少数量。

Astrophysics is the study of the physical nature of celestial objects and the Universe in which they live. The Astrophysics group at Lancaster has been set up in 2015 within the Physics Department, complementing the Theoretical Particle Cosmology and Space and Planetary Physics groups. The new group's research is primarily observational and tackles some of the most important open questions in Astrophysics, broadly centred around understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies, their central black holes and the properties of the Universe itself. The group's research on galaxies and super-massive black holes includes detailed studies of relatively nearby galaxies and galaxy clusters through to searches for the most distant galaxies observable. Through these studies we can probe the earliest systems that formed in the Universe. Related research on the properties of the Universe includes measuring cosmological parameters such as the expansion rate and geometry of the Universe, and the relative fractions and properties of its constituents, including ordinary matter and the mysterious dark matter and dark energy. Recently, with new staff members joining (Simmons, Wardlow and Pitkin), we have expanded to study some of the most active and dusty star-forming galaxies in the early Universe, but we also work on gravitational wave astronomy, specifically focusing on pulsars.Our research involves making state-of-the-art observations using the world's most powerful telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the facilities of the European Southern Observatory, including ALMA and VLT, but also LIGO and Virgo. At the same time the group is involved in the scientific planning for several new telescopes and instruments that will come online in the next 5-10 years and that will revolutionise research in astrophysics. These include the 4MOST spectrograph to be mounted on the VISTA telescope, the Rubin Observatory (an 8m diameter survey telescope), the 40m European Extremely Large Telescope and in space ESA's Euclid mission (a wide-field survey telescope for cosmology) and the James Webb Space Telescope.The main topics of research at Lancaster are:- the co-evolution of galaxies and super-massive black holes; galaxy morphologies; citizen science, Galaxy Zoo;- galaxy formation and evolution; emission-line galaxies; high-redshift galaxies; re-ionisation; the star formation history of the Universe; the early ISM and metal enrichment;- sub-mm galaxies- supernovae as cosmological probes; cosmological parameters; dark energy;- integral field spectroscopy; galaxy clusters and quasar absorption line studies;- scientific planning for future telescopes and instruments;- Continuous gravitational wave signals from pulsars In this proposal we are applying for the renewal of our PATT grant to continue to support our Observational Astrophysics group. The grant will cover the travel and subsistence costs of all researchers at Lancaster for observing runs at PATT approved telescopes. Even though our staff numbers have now doubled, more runs are being done remotely, and therefore we request a reduced amount this time.