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.
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.
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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101087
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$359,026.00
Summary
Modelling superfluid neutron stars. This project aims to construct realistic neutron star models, that will be used to interpret radio and x-ray data, but also to aid gravitational wave detection. These models will allow the study of matter at extreme densities in the stellar interior, well above nuclear density, thus making use of the most exciting physics laboratory in the cosmos.
A mathematical analysis of the influence of small scale inhomogeneities on the evolution of the universe. A fundamental unresolved problem in modern cosmology is to quantify the influence of small-scale inhomogeneities on the evolution of the universe. This project will develop the mathematical techniques required to resolve this question. In addition, these techniques will have important applications to the analysis of astronomical data.
An upgraded pulsar timing array for gravitational wave detection. Millisecond pulsars are remarkably regularly-rotating neutron stars that offer the opportunity to detect gravitational waves via the technique known as pulsar timing. Australia has long been a world leader in the discovery and timing of millisecond pulsars, and the Parkes pulsar timing array is one of three major programmes in the world aimed at making the first direct detection of gravitational waves in any frequency band. This p ....An upgraded pulsar timing array for gravitational wave detection. Millisecond pulsars are remarkably regularly-rotating neutron stars that offer the opportunity to detect gravitational waves via the technique known as pulsar timing. Australia has long been a world leader in the discovery and timing of millisecond pulsars, and the Parkes pulsar timing array is one of three major programmes in the world aimed at making the first direct detection of gravitational waves in any frequency band. This project is designed to capitalise on Australia's position of strength in this field by extending the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array dataset (PPTA) so that it has the best chance of detecting gravitational waves in the nanohertz regime until the SKA pathfinders start to come online in 2017.Read moreRead less
Weighing the Universe using fast radio bursts. Fast radio bursts are a newly-discovered astronomical phenomenon whose millisecond-timescale emission occurs at cosmological distances, rendering them exceptional probes of the matter that lies in intergalactic space. This project aims to measure the positions and obtain the distances to these bursts to make a direct measurement of the density of ordinary matter in the Universe, at least 50 per cent of which is believed to remain undetected in inter ....Weighing the Universe using fast radio bursts. Fast radio bursts are a newly-discovered astronomical phenomenon whose millisecond-timescale emission occurs at cosmological distances, rendering them exceptional probes of the matter that lies in intergalactic space. This project aims to measure the positions and obtain the distances to these bursts to make a direct measurement of the density of ordinary matter in the Universe, at least 50 per cent of which is believed to remain undetected in intergalactic space. This project will measure the distribution of this missing matter, and find how it has evolved throughout the history of the Universe. This will provide significant benefits, such as addressing two fundamental questions about our Universe: how much matter does it contain, and has a large fraction of it hitherto evaded detection in intergalactic space?Read moreRead less
The diversity of core-collapse supernovae. This project aims to develop a comprehensive picture of the explosions of massive stars as core-collapse supernovae using high-end computer simulations. Such explosions come in many varieties and arise from different classes of progenitor stars. This project seeks to thoroughly understand this diversity. It endeavours to provide simulations of supernovae powered by magnetic fields, supernovae that produce black holes, supernovae in binary systems, and t ....The diversity of core-collapse supernovae. This project aims to develop a comprehensive picture of the explosions of massive stars as core-collapse supernovae using high-end computer simulations. Such explosions come in many varieties and arise from different classes of progenitor stars. This project seeks to thoroughly understand this diversity. It endeavours to provide simulations of supernovae powered by magnetic fields, supernovae that produce black holes, supernovae in binary systems, and the most energetic neutrino-driven supernovae. The project also aspires to better link numerical simulations, observations of supernovae and their remnants, and the nucleosynthesis fingerprints that supernovae have left in the chemical history record of galaxies.Read moreRead less