Illuminating the cosmic web with Fast Radio Bursts. This project aims to establish the use of millisecond-duration Fast Radio Bursts as a wholly new means to map out the distribution of matter in the Universe. This project expects to localise 100s of bursts using novel infrastructure deployed on Australia's largest radio telescopes. Expected outcomes include an understanding of the processes that shape both the large-scale structures of the Universe, and the extreme conditions that exist at the ....Illuminating the cosmic web with Fast Radio Bursts. This project aims to establish the use of millisecond-duration Fast Radio Bursts as a wholly new means to map out the distribution of matter in the Universe. This project expects to localise 100s of bursts using novel infrastructure deployed on Australia's largest radio telescopes. Expected outcomes include an understanding of the processes that shape both the large-scale structures of the Universe, and the extreme conditions that exist at the sites of Fast Radio Bursts. This should provide significant benefits to our fundamental knowledge of the Universe, inspire students into careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and develop signal processing techniques of application to both the Square Kilometre Array and industry.Read moreRead less
Weighing the Giants: Using Galaxy Clusters to understand Dark Energy. This project seeks to reveal the nature of dark energy and thereby explain what is causing expansion of the Universe to accelerate. The project will develop new deep machine learning techniques to weigh galaxy clusters, and apply them to data from the SPT-3G experiment at the South Pole. By comparing theoretical predictions to the observed numbers and masses of galaxy clusters, the project will help determine whether the accel ....Weighing the Giants: Using Galaxy Clusters to understand Dark Energy. This project seeks to reveal the nature of dark energy and thereby explain what is causing expansion of the Universe to accelerate. The project will develop new deep machine learning techniques to weigh galaxy clusters, and apply them to data from the SPT-3G experiment at the South Pole. By comparing theoretical predictions to the observed numbers and masses of galaxy clusters, the project will help determine whether the acceleration is due to dark energy or a breakdown in general relativity. The data science training received by students and researchers on the project will also contribute to a highly skilled STEM workforce for Australia.
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Utilising artificial intelligence to elucidate the physics of galaxies. For decades astronomers have puzzled over the connection between the structure and evolution of galaxies and the role played by host environments. This project aims to resolve this problem by combining multi-wavelength observations, multi-component simulations, and pioneering data analysis using artificial intelligence. In particular, we target the nearby Fornax galaxy cluster as a laboratory for studying galaxy formation in ....Utilising artificial intelligence to elucidate the physics of galaxies. For decades astronomers have puzzled over the connection between the structure and evolution of galaxies and the role played by host environments. This project aims to resolve this problem by combining multi-wavelength observations, multi-component simulations, and pioneering data analysis using artificial intelligence. In particular, we target the nearby Fornax galaxy cluster as a laboratory for studying galaxy formation in dense environments. Using our novel machine learning techniques, we will elucidate the physical mechanisms that drive the rapid evolution of star formation, galactic nuclei, and gas and dust content within Fornax. Our predictions will benefit ongoing and future surveys at the national and international level. Read moreRead less
From bulges to galaxies: Galaxy evolution revealed. This project aims to hunt for the descendants of an allegedly near extinct species of galaxy, through the analysis of near-infrared satellite images of massive galaxies. Popular opinion has it that the compact, massive galaxies observed at great distances when the Universe was young are extinct, having evolved to become today's elliptically-shaped galaxies, but no credible mechanism to do so has been identified. This project tests the alternati ....From bulges to galaxies: Galaxy evolution revealed. This project aims to hunt for the descendants of an allegedly near extinct species of galaxy, through the analysis of near-infrared satellite images of massive galaxies. Popular opinion has it that the compact, massive galaxies observed at great distances when the Universe was young are extinct, having evolved to become today's elliptically-shaped galaxies, but no credible mechanism to do so has been identified. This project tests the alternative notion that they still exist as the bulges of today's disc galaxies. This project will potentially change our understanding of how galaxies evolve.Read moreRead less
Uncovering the laws of gravity using the largest map of the cosmos. This project aims to map out the behaviour of gravity across the Universe. This research will address a key gap in our understanding of physics, with significant implications for fundamental theory: we cannot account for the fact that the expansion of the Universe appears to be speeding up. This project will use the largest 3D map of how galaxies are distributed across the Universe, together with complementary datasets tracing ....Uncovering the laws of gravity using the largest map of the cosmos. This project aims to map out the behaviour of gravity across the Universe. This research will address a key gap in our understanding of physics, with significant implications for fundamental theory: we cannot account for the fact that the expansion of the Universe appears to be speeding up. This project will use the largest 3D map of how galaxies are distributed across the Universe, together with complementary datasets tracing the deflections of light -- obtained through unique international partnerships -- to produce a novel description of how Universal gravitation depends on separation and time. This work will provide new limits on allowed deviations from General Relativity (with 2% accuracy), or map out new and unexpected phenomena.Read moreRead less
Uncovering New Physics with Advances in the Cosmic Microwave Background. This project aims to measure how quickly the Universe is expanding by looking at images of the Big Bang's primordial fireball that will be made by two new astronomical surveys. These improved measurements are expected to test our current understanding of cosmology, with the potential to discover new constituents or new physics in the Universe. Answering these questions about the Universe will have far-reaching consequences ....Uncovering New Physics with Advances in the Cosmic Microwave Background. This project aims to measure how quickly the Universe is expanding by looking at images of the Big Bang's primordial fireball that will be made by two new astronomical surveys. These improved measurements are expected to test our current understanding of cosmology, with the potential to discover new constituents or new physics in the Universe. Answering these questions about the Universe will have far-reaching consequences for our knowledge of fundamental physics. The project will also train students and researchers in data science and petabyte-scale data processing, contributing to a highly skilled STEM workforce.Read moreRead less
Ultra Diffuse Galaxies: Challenging the galaxy formation paradigm . We aim to understand the origins of newly discovered Ultra Diffuse Galaxies. Their extreme properties challenge many assumptions underpinning the accepted cosmological framework within which galaxies form, especially the role of dark matter and its interaction with normal matter. Outcomes, enabled by the world’s best telescopes, novel machine learning techniques and supercomputer simulations of galaxy formation, will be a large ....Ultra Diffuse Galaxies: Challenging the galaxy formation paradigm . We aim to understand the origins of newly discovered Ultra Diffuse Galaxies. Their extreme properties challenge many assumptions underpinning the accepted cosmological framework within which galaxies form, especially the role of dark matter and its interaction with normal matter. Outcomes, enabled by the world’s best telescopes, novel machine learning techniques and supercomputer simulations of galaxy formation, will be a large new sample with measurements of their key properties and a clarification of their formation pathways. Benefits are the development of machine learning galaxy detection techniques, essential for future large data volumes, and a firmer understanding of the role of dark matter in forming galaxies over cosmic time.Read moreRead less
Wobbling stars reveal their hidden companions. This project aims to measure the wobble in the position of distant stars that is caused by massive objects, using telescopes in space. This project expects to generate new knowledge on how binary stars, exoplanets, and stellar mass black holes are formed. Expected outcomes of this project include tight constraints on binary star models, new discoveries of neutron stars and black holes that are a few times more massive than the Sun, and samples of st ....Wobbling stars reveal their hidden companions. This project aims to measure the wobble in the position of distant stars that is caused by massive objects, using telescopes in space. This project expects to generate new knowledge on how binary stars, exoplanets, and stellar mass black holes are formed. Expected outcomes of this project include tight constraints on binary star models, new discoveries of neutron stars and black holes that are a few times more massive than the Sun, and samples of stars that do, and do not, host exoplanets. This should provide significant benefits including a catalogue of companion properties for billions of sources, new understanding of how stars die, as well as the first control sample of stars without planets to help understand how and why planets form.Read moreRead less
A New Way to Calculate Mixing and Burning in Stars. This project aims to develop a new method for calculating mixing and burning in stars, by combining the results of supercomputer calculations with a novel 2-stream mixing idea. It will develop new techniques suitable for studying the long-term evolution of hot gases that are both mixing and burning at the same time. Expected outcomes will be advances in computational gas dynamics, a robust new model for mixing in stars, and an improved underst ....A New Way to Calculate Mixing and Burning in Stars. This project aims to develop a new method for calculating mixing and burning in stars, by combining the results of supercomputer calculations with a novel 2-stream mixing idea. It will develop new techniques suitable for studying the long-term evolution of hot gases that are both mixing and burning at the same time. Expected outcomes will be advances in computational gas dynamics, a robust new model for mixing in stars, and an improved understanding of the production of the heaviest elements. Benefits will include advances in computational gas dynamics, astronomical modelling, and strengthened research connections with astronomers and computational scientists in the UK and Sweden.Read moreRead less
Gaps, rings and holes in protoplanetary discs. This project aims to provide a theoretical interpretation for recent observations of protoplanetary discs. Recent first images from the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) telescope in Chile and the Very Large Telescope (VLT) have provided a snapshot of planets forming around young stars. This project will use three-dimensional simulations to understand how newborn planets can carve structures such as 'gaps' and 'holes' seen by telescopes. The pro ....Gaps, rings and holes in protoplanetary discs. This project aims to provide a theoretical interpretation for recent observations of protoplanetary discs. Recent first images from the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) telescope in Chile and the Very Large Telescope (VLT) have provided a snapshot of planets forming around young stars. This project will use three-dimensional simulations to understand how newborn planets can carve structures such as 'gaps' and 'holes' seen by telescopes. The project aims to develop an algorithm, capable of simulating a mixture of gas and multiple types of solid particles, which is applicable in astronomy and engineering.Read moreRead less