Queen's University Belfast Astronomy Observation and Theory Consolidated Grant 2023-2026

QUB提出的研究涵盖了广泛的重要的天体物理学，从研究恒星和外来物体的演化和经常剧烈的死亡，到分析新发现的外星世界的大气层。我们的团队拥有国际知名的观察和理论专业知识，处于拟议活动的最前沿。超新星产生了我们在整个可见宇宙中看到的重元素。恒星的演化需要数百万或数十亿年的时间，而超新星爆炸发生在几秒钟内，发光的残留物会持续数年。我们的目标是了解这些爆炸是如何发生的，以及它们是如何在我们的星系中产生中子星、脉冲星和黑洞的。2017年，发现了第一个与引力波源对应的电磁源，这是一项突破性发现。这被称为“千新星”，是一对中子星合并的结果，可见光和红外光是由重元素（我们称之为r过程元素）的放射性衰变产生的。这些元素比铁重，中子星合并可能是产生所有这些重元素的原因。我们的项目将发现更多这样的信号，而引力波和电磁信号的结合将为研究宇宙打开一扇新的窗口。热核超新星被用作宇宙尺度，并导致诺贝尔奖得主暗能量的发现来自白矮星，白矮星是一颗死亡恒星的残骸，其质量大于太阳，但大小与地球相当。为了了解它们是如何爆炸的，我们将用目前存在的最复杂的三维计算机模型来模拟它们的光谱。超新星中产生的重元素对于形成行星系统至关重要，自从诺贝尔奖得主发现了第一颗绕正常恒星运行的行星（一颗系外行星）以来，我们现在知道了数千个外星世界。尽管它们种类繁多，从热木星到超级地球，但由于它们发出的微小信号，我们还没有找到一颗在大小和距离上与地球相似的行星。随着近几年超高精度仪器的问世，成功的障碍不再局限于技术，而是我们对像太阳这样的恒星的表面活动缺乏了解。我们的项目将致力于理解和减轻这种影响，并仔细测试提取微小信号的方法，以期在未来探测到地球的孪生兄弟。与此同时，我们还希望提高探测系外行星大气层的能力。我们的团队在开发新的和日益敏感的大气特征工具方面具有传统，我们将应用一种称为多普勒断层扫描的技术，这种技术显示出特别的前景。磨练这种技术将使我们能够探测较小的行星，并从以前看不见的化学物质中寻找更微妙的信号。天体物理学的一个关键部分是将我们在地球上可以测量的物理知识与我们在遥远宇宙中可以看到的（通过电磁辐射）结合起来。这将通过模型原子的计算机计算和实验室实验来完成。我们的计算机代码计算电子如何在原子中被激发，并确保天体物理模型确定导致超新星、超大质量黑洞、星系光谱和恒星光谱线的元素。现在我们已经探测到了千新星，我们必须对最重的元素做同样的计算。与此同时，使用强大激光的新实验可以以可控和可重复的方式复制宇宙中一些最极端的条件——这在天文观测中是很难实现的。这样的研究对于更清晰地理解一些奇特的天体物理现象至关重要，从活动星系核心发出的喷流到伽马射线暴。

The proposed research at QUB covers a wide range of fundamentally important astrophysics, from studying the evolution and often violent deaths of stars and exotic objects, to analysing the atmospheres of newly discovered alien worlds. Our team has internationally renowned observational and theoretical expertise that lies at the forefront of the proposed activities.Supernovae create the heavy elements we see in the entire visible Universe. While stars evolve over millions or billions of years, a supernova explosion happens in seconds and the glowing remnant lasts for years. We aim to understand how these explosions happen and how they create the neutron stars, pulsars and black holes in our galaxy. In 2017 a breakthrough discovery was made when the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave source was found. Termed a 'kilonova', this was the result of a pair of merging neutron stars and the optical and infrared light arose from the radioactive decay of heavy elements (which we call r-process elements). These elements are heavier than iron and such neutron star mergers may be responsible for all these heavy elements. Our projects will find more of these, and the combination of gravitational waves and electromagnetic signals opens up a new window on the Universe. The thermonuclear supernovae that are used as cosmic yardsticks and led to the Nobel Prize winning discovery of dark energy come from white dwarfs, the incredibly dense remnants of a dead star with a mass greater than that of the sun but the size of the earth. To understand how they explode, we will model their spectra with the most sophisticated 3 dimensional computer models that currently exist.The heavy elements that are created in supernovae are essential to form planetary systems, and since the Nobel prize-winning discovery of the first planet orbiting a normal star (an exoplanet) we now know of 1000s of alien worlds. Despite their astounding diversity, from hot-Jupiters to super-Earths, we have yet to find a planet that resembles Earth in terms of its size and distance from its parent star due to the tiny signals they produce. With ultra-high precision instruments coming online in the last few years the barrier to success is no longer limited by technology, but by our lack of understanding of the surface activity of stars like our Sun. Our project will aim to understand and mitigate this effect, and carefully test methods to extract the tiny signals we expect with an eye on the future prize of detecting an earth twin. Running parallel to this, we also wish to improve our ability to probe the atmospheres of exoplanets. Our group has a heritage in developing new and increasingly sensitive atmospheric characterisation tools, and we shall apply a technique called Doppler Tomography that demonstrates particular promise. Honing such techniques will allow us to probe smaller planets and search for more subtle signals from previously unseen chemical species.A critical part of astrophysics is pulling together our detailed knowledge of physics that we can measure on earth to what we can see (through electromagnetic radiation) in the distant Universe. This will be done through computer calculations of model atoms, and laboratory experiments. Our computer codes calculate how electrons are excited in atoms and ensures that astrophysical models identify the elements that cause the spectral lines in supernovae, supermassive black holes, galaxy spectra and stars. Now that we have detected a kilonova we must do the same calculations for the heaviest elements. Meanwhile, novel experiments using powerful lasers can replicate some of the most extreme conditions in the Universe in a controllable and repeatable fashion - something rarely achievable in astronomical observations. Such investigations are key to unlocking a clearer understanding of several exotic astrophysical phenomena, from jets emanating from the cores of active galaxies to Gamma Ray Bursts.