Gravitational-wave astrophysics of binary black holes. Do black holes live alone, or form lasting gravitational partnerships? This question is of immense significance to astronomers. The emerging field of gravitational-wave astronomy is set to provide the answers. This project aims to develop innovative strategies to search for black hole pairs using leading technologies built with Australian expertise.
Gravitating relativistic material bodies: A mathematical analysis. This project aims to establish the local-in-time existence and geometric uniqueness of solutions to the Einstein-Elastic equations representing systems of gravitating relativistic material bodies, and to understand the long-time behaviour of these solutions. In spite of their importance to astrophysics, almost nothing is known about the mathematical properties of solutions to the equations of motion governing gravitating systems ....Gravitating relativistic material bodies: A mathematical analysis. This project aims to establish the local-in-time existence and geometric uniqueness of solutions to the Einstein-Elastic equations representing systems of gravitating relativistic material bodies, and to understand the long-time behaviour of these solutions. In spite of their importance to astrophysics, almost nothing is known about the mathematical properties of solutions to the equations of motion governing gravitating systems of relativistic material bodies. This project would provide mathematical tools for the study of gravitating relativistic material bodies and provide guidance on developing stable numerical schemes for simulations that are essential for comparing theory with experiment. This would significantly improve current understanding of the behaviour of matter and gravitational fields near the matter-vacuum boundary of bodies and help understanding of the physics of these boundaries.Read moreRead less
A Transdimensional Approach to Gravitational-Wave Astronomy. This project uses ripples in the fabric of spacetime––gravitational waves––to understand the cosmos and the fundamental nature of reality. We aim to discover new sources of gravitational waves from exploding stars. Using gravitational waves from colliding black holes, we aim to uncover new physics beyond Einstein's theory of general relativity. To achieve these goals we will develop tools from the cutting-edge of data science.
Testing pulsar emission models and general relativity at pico arcsecond resolution. A holographic technique has been pioneered that harnesses scattering in interstellar space to resolve the emission from pulsars at a resolution of 50 pico-arcseconds, six orders of magnitude finer than has been achieved by conventional radio astronomical interferometry. This project will directly measure the size of the emission regions in a set of pulsars, and hence resolve the 40-year old debate regarding the s ....Testing pulsar emission models and general relativity at pico arcsecond resolution. A holographic technique has been pioneered that harnesses scattering in interstellar space to resolve the emission from pulsars at a resolution of 50 pico-arcseconds, six orders of magnitude finer than has been achieved by conventional radio astronomical interferometry. This project will directly measure the size of the emission regions in a set of pulsars, and hence resolve the 40-year old debate regarding the site of their radio emission. The project will also apply the technique to binary pulsar systems to provide a new test of General Relativity.Read moreRead less
Gravitational wave astrophysics with Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). The prediction that space and time vibrate is one of Einstein's greatest legacies, implying the existence of a new form of radiation with which to study the Universe. This project puts Australia in the vanguard of the billion-dollar effort worldwide to detect and harness this radiation for the first time.
General relativistic light propagation effects: new insight into cosmic voids, dark matter, dark energy, and Einstein's theory of gravity. This project aims to be the first to develop new methods which will allow accurate study of light propagation effects. These methods remove the “noise” (light propagation effects) from observational data, resulting in unprecedented accuracy of the analyses and new insight into properties of dark energy. At the same time these methods use the “noise” as the ac ....General relativistic light propagation effects: new insight into cosmic voids, dark matter, dark energy, and Einstein's theory of gravity. This project aims to be the first to develop new methods which will allow accurate study of light propagation effects. These methods remove the “noise” (light propagation effects) from observational data, resulting in unprecedented accuracy of the analyses and new insight into properties of dark energy. At the same time these methods use the “noise” as the actual signal to measure properties of the Universe, especially the mass distribution inside cosmic voids (places in the Universe avoided by galaxies), which will solve the problem of dark matter distribution inside cosmic voids. The project aims to use light propagation effects to test Einstein's theory of gravity at cosmological scales.Read moreRead less
Precision cosmic expansion in the era of gravitational-wave astronomy. The disagreement in the size of the cosmic expansion rate, between measurements from local galaxy indicators and predictions from the early Universe, is a crisis for cosmology. This Project aims to resolve this situation using recent scientific breakthroughs in both observations and theory. We will optimise expansion measurements from the standard sirens discovered by gravitational-wave astronomy by accurate modelling of th ....Precision cosmic expansion in the era of gravitational-wave astronomy. The disagreement in the size of the cosmic expansion rate, between measurements from local galaxy indicators and predictions from the early Universe, is a crisis for cosmology. This Project aims to resolve this situation using recent scientific breakthroughs in both observations and theory. We will optimise expansion measurements from the standard sirens discovered by gravitational-wave astronomy by accurate modelling of the cosmic velocity field which limits this analysis. And we will use recent breakthoughs in numerical general relativity to explore the influence of space-time curvature variations on these measurements. We will hence improve our understanding of the most important parameter describing the Universe, and its physics.Read moreRead less
A Space Odyssey: Exploring the Universe with Gravitational-Wave Sirens. How fast is the Universe expanding? This project aims to produce the most precise measurement to date of the present day expansion rate of the Universe using gravitational waves and thus resolve current tensions plaguing existing measurements. We plan to develop the most comprehensive catalogue of gravitational waves and their hosts using the largest galaxy surveys in the world and use innovative statistical techniques to ex ....A Space Odyssey: Exploring the Universe with Gravitational-Wave Sirens. How fast is the Universe expanding? This project aims to produce the most precise measurement to date of the present day expansion rate of the Universe using gravitational waves and thus resolve current tensions plaguing existing measurements. We plan to develop the most comprehensive catalogue of gravitational waves and their hosts using the largest galaxy surveys in the world and use innovative statistical techniques to extract cosmological measurements from them. Expected outcomes include new knowledge of what the Universe is made of and how it has evolved, and enhanced international collaboration between Australia and other survey member countries. Anticipated benefits include new software and methods for the analysis of big data.Read moreRead less