Astrophysics Consolidated Grant 2022 - 2025

Our research in Astrophysics includes the areas of cosmology (the
study of the Universe), the most distant galaxies, and exoplanets
(planets around other stars). This work will make a contribution
towards answering some of the greatest questions that can be posed,
including: can we find signs of life outside the solar system? and
what is the fate of the Universe? Our work involves a combination of
theory, observations, and laboratory work. We use cutting-edge
facilities such as the Simons Observatory and the Herschel satellite,
and soon the Euclid satellite, the Square Kilometre Array,
and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. In addition we measure in the
laboratory fundamental properties of different atoms, properties that
cannot be predicted theoretically, for comparison against observations
of the different elements in stars.

Our understanding of the nature of the Universe has changed profoundly
over the past 25 years, since it was discovered that the expansion of
the Universe is accelerating, and as experiments, primarily those
observing the cosmic microwave background, have allowed the accurate
measurement of the parameters describing the Universe - the
proportions of ordinary matter (atoms), dark matter, and dark energy,
and the current rate of expansion. Dark matter clumps gravitationally
and outweighs ordinary matter by a factor five, but what it consists of
is unknown. The even greater mystery is dark energy, which is causing
the acceleration of the Universe, and which dominates the mass-energy
budget. Our work in cosmology takes different approaches to answering
these problems. But the common theme in our research is the
understanding that advances will come through improved experiments
that measure quantities (cosmological distances, the rate of
expansion) more accurately. The experiments rely on better technology
(e.g. measurements of polarisation of the cosmic microwave
background), and better data analysis techniques that improve the
precision and...