ORCID Profile
0000-0002-0016-9485
Current Organisation
Western Sydney University
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Astronomical and Space Sciences | Galactic Astronomy | Cosmology and Extragalactic Astronomy | Stellar Astronomy and Planetary Systems | Photonics, Optoelectronics and Optical Communications | Astronomical and Space Instrumentation
Expanding Knowledge in the Physical Sciences | Expanding Knowledge in Technology |
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 12-09-2022
Abstract: We present the discovery of highly collimated radio jets spanning a total of 355 kpc around the nearby elliptical galaxy NGC 2663, and the possible first detection of recollimation on kiloparsec scales. The small distance to the galaxy (∼28.5 Mpc) allows us to resolve portions of the jets to examine their structure. We combine multiwavelength data: radio observations by the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), and X-ray data from Chandra, Swift, and SRG/eROSITA. We present intensity, rotation measure, polarization, spectral index, and X-ray environment maps. Regions of the southern jet show simultaneous narrowing and brightening, which can be interpreted as a signature of the recollimation of the jet by external, environmental pressure, though it is also consistent with intermittent active galactic nuclei or complex internal jet structure. X-ray data suggest that the environment is extremely poor if the jet is indeed recollimating, the large recollimation scale (40 kpc) is consistent with a slow jet in a low-density environment.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 07-12-2022
Abstract: We investigate the dependence of elemental abundances on physical constants, and the implications this has for the distribution of complex life for various proposed habitability criteria. We consider three main sources of abundance variation: differing supernova rates, alpha burning in massive stars, and isotopic stability, and how each affects the metal-to-rock ratio and the abundances of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, silicon, magnesium, and iron. Our analysis leads to several predictions for which habitability criteria are correct by determining which ones make our observations of the physical constants, as well as a few other observed features of our universe, most likely. Our results indicate that carbon-rich or carbon-poor planets are uninhabitable, slightly magnesium-rich planets are habitable, and life does not depend on nitrogen abundance too sensitively. We also find suggestive but inconclusive evidence that metal-rich planets and phosphorus-poor planets are habitable. These predictions can then be checked by probing regions of our universe that closely resemble normal environments in other universes. If any of these predictions are found to be wrong, the multiverse scenario would predict that the majority of observers are born in universes differing substantially from ours, and so can be ruled out, to varying degrees of statistical significance.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 02-05-2023
Abstract: We present MeerKAT L-band (886–1682 MHz) observations of the extended radio structure of the peculiar galaxy pair PKS 2130−538 known as the ‘Dancing Ghosts’. The complex of bending and possibly interacting jets and lobes originate from two active galactic nuclei hosts in the Abell 3785 galaxy cluster, one of which is the brightest cluster galaxy. The radio properties of the PKS 2130−538 – flux density, spectral index, and polarization – are typical for large, bent-tail galaxies. We also investigate a number of thin extended low surface brightness filaments originating from the lobes. South-east from the Dancing Ghosts, we detect a region of low surface brightness emission that has no clear origin. While it could originate from the Abell 3785 radio halo, we investigate the possibility that it is associated with the two PKS 2130−538 hosts. We find no evidence of interaction between the two PKS 2130−538 hosts.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 05-2021
Abstract: We revisit Wagoner et al., a classic contribution in the development of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. We demonstrate that it presents an incorrect expression for the temperature of the early universe as a function of time in the high temperature limit, T ≳ 10 10 K. As this incorrect expression has been reproduced elsewhere, we present a corrected form for the initial conditions required for calculating the formation of the primordial elements in the Big Bang.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 28-04-2016
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 09-09-2017
Abstract: This work presents a study of galactic outflows driven by stellar feedback. We extract main-sequence disc galaxies with stellar mass 109 ≤ M⋆/ M⊙ ≤ 5.7 × 1010 at redshift z = 0 from the highest resolution cosmological simulation of the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) set. Synthetic gas rotation velocity and velocity dispersion (σ) maps are created and compared to observations of disc galaxies obtained with the Sydney-AAO (Australian Astronomical Observatory) Multi-object Integral field spectrograph (SAMI), where σ-values greater than 150 km s−1 are most naturally explained by bipolar outflows powered by starburst activity. We find that the extension of the simulated edge-on (pixelated) velocity dispersion probability distribution depends on stellar mass and star formation rate surface density (ΣSFR), with low-M⋆/low-ΣSFR galaxies showing a narrow peak at low σ (∼30 km s−1) and more active, high-M⋆/high-ΣSFR galaxies reaching σ & 150 km s−1. Although supernova-driven galactic winds in the EAGLE simulations may not entrain enough gas with T & K compared to observed galaxies, we find that gas temperature is a good proxy for the presence of outflows. There is a direct correlation between the thermal state of the gas and its state of motion as described by the σ-distribution. The following equivalence relations hold in EAGLE: (i) low-σ peak ⇔ disc of the galaxy ⇔ gas with T & K (ii) high-σ tail ⇔ galactic winds ⇔ gas with T ≥105 K.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-2019
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 24-08-2011
Publisher: Inference: International Review of Science
Date: 28-09-2016
Abstract: Even an atheist has to believe something. Luke Barnes reviews Sean Carroll’s The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself, in which Carroll attempts to construct an atheistic worldview called poetic naturalism.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-08-2018
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2007
DOI: 10.1071/AS07019
Abstract: While it remains the staple of virtually all cosmological teaching, the concept of expanding space in explaining the increasing separation of galaxies has recently come under fire as a dangerous idea whose application leads to the development of confusion and the establishment of misconceptions. In this paper we develop a notion of expanding space that is completely valid as a framework for the description of the evolution of the universe and whose application allows an intuitive understanding of the influence of universal expansion. We also demonstrate how arguments against the concept in general have failed thus far, as they imbue expanding space with physical properties not consistent with the expectations of general relativity.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 10-04-2018
DOI: 10.1093/MNRAS/STY879
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2021.54
Abstract: Curiously, our Universe was born in a low entropy state, with abundant free energy to power stars and life. The form that this free energy takes is usually thought to be gravitational: the Universe is almost perfectly smooth, and so can produce sources of energy as matter collapses under gravity. It has recently been argued that a more important source of low-entropy energy is nuclear: the Universe expands too fast to remain in nuclear statistical equilibrium, effectively shutting off nucleosynthesis in the first few minutes, providing leftover hydrogen as fuel for stars. Here, we fill in the astrophysical details of this scenario and seek the conditions under which a Universe will emerge from early nucleosynthesis as almost-purely iron. In so doing, we identify a hitherto-overlooked character in the story of the origin of the second law: matter–antimatter asymmetry.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 20-11-2015
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 11-08-2008
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 18-09-2015
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S10714-023-03090-Y
Abstract: We investigate the sensitivity of a universe’s nuclear entropy after Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) to variations in both the baryon-to-photon ratio and the temporal evolution of cosmological expansion. Specifically, we construct counterfactual cosmologies to quantify the degree by which these two parameters must vary from those in our Universe before we observe a substantial change in the degree of fusion, and thus nuclear entropy, during BBN. We find that, while the post-BBN nuclear entropy is indeed linked to baryogenesis and the Universe’s expansion history, the requirement of leftover light elements does not place strong constraints on the properties of these two cosmological processes.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2005
DOI: 10.1071/AS05031
Abstract: Observational evidence indicating that the expansion of the universe is accelerating has surprised cosmologists in recent years. Cosmological models have sought to explain this acceleration by incorporating ‘dark energy’, of which the traditional cosmological constant is just one possible candidate. Several cosmological models involving an evolving equation of state of the dark energy have been proposed, as well as possible energy exchange to other components, such as dark matter. This paper summarizes the forms of the most prominent models and discusses their implications for cosmology and astrophysics. Finally, this paper examines the current and future observational constraints on the nature of dark energy.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2021.2
Abstract: In Einstein’s special theory of relativity, all observers measure the speed of light, c , to be the same. However, this refers to the round-trip speed, where a clock at the origin times the outward and return trip of light reflecting off a distant mirror. Measuring the one-way speed of light is fraught with issues of clock synchronisation, and, as long as the average speed of light remains c , the speeds on the outward and return legs could be different. One objection to this anisotropic speed of light is that views of the distant universe would be different in different directions, especially with regard to the ages of observed objects and the smoothness of the Cosmic Microwave Background. In this paper, we explore this in the Milne universe, the limiting case of a Friedmann–Robertson–Walker universe containing no matter, radiation, or dark energy. Given that this universe is empty, it can be mapped onto flat Minkowski space-time and so can be explored in terms of the one-way speed of light. The conclusion is that the presence of an anisotropic speed of light leads to anisotropic time dilation effects, and hence observers in the Milne universe would be presented with an isotropic view of the distant cosmos.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2012
DOI: 10.1071/AS12015
Abstract: The fine-tuning of the universe for intelligent life has received a great deal of attention in recent years, both in the philosophical and scientific literature. The claim is that in the space of possible physical laws, parameters and initial conditions, the set that permits the evolution of intelligent life is very small. I present here a review of the scientific literature, outlining cases of fine-tuning in the classic works of Carter, Carr and Rees, and Barrow and Tipler, as well as more recent work. To sharpen the discussion, the role of the antagonist will be played by Victor Stenger's recent book The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning: Why the Universe is Not Designed for Us . Stenger claims that all known fine-tuning cases can be explained without the need for a multiverse. Many of Stenger's claims will be found to be highly problematic. We will touch on such issues as the logical necessity of the laws of nature objectivity, invariance and symmetry theoretical physics and possible universes entropy in cosmology cosmic inflation and initial conditions galaxy formation the cosmological constant stars and their formation the properties of elementary particles and their effect on chemistry and the macroscopic world the origin of mass grand unified theories and the dimensionality of space and time. I also provide an assessment of the multiverse, noting the significant challenges that it must face. I do not attempt to defend any conclusion based on the fine-tuning of the universe for intelligent life. This paper can be viewed as a critique of Stenger's book, or read independently.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 21-12-2022
Abstract: Stellar activity and planetary atmospheric properties have the potential to strongly influence habitability. To date, neither have been adequately studied in the multiverse context, so there has been no assessment of how these effects impact the probabilities of observing our fundamental constants. Here, we consider the effects of solar wind, mass loss, and extreme ultra-violet (XUV) flux on planetary atmospheres, how these effects scale with fundamental constants, and how this affects the likelihood of our observations. We determine the minimum atmospheric mass that can withstand erosion, maintain liquid surface water, and buffer diurnal temperature changes. We consider two plausible sources of Earth’s atmosphere, as well as the notion that only initially slowly rotating stars are habitable, and find that all are equally compatible with the multiverse. We consider whether planetary magnetic fields are necessary for habitability, and find five boundaries in parameter space where magnetic fields are precluded. We find that if an Earth-like carbon-to-oxygen ratio is required for life, atmospheric effects do not have much of an impact on multiverse calculations. If significantly different carbon-to-oxygen ratios are compatible with life, magnetic fields must not be essential for life, and planet atmosphere must not scale with stellar nitrogen abundance, or else the multiverse would be ruled out to a high degree of confidence.
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Date: 11-2014
DOI: 10.1086/679178
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 13-01-2015
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 20-11-2015
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Date: 20-07-2017
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 13-12-2022
Abstract: Using the Lyman Dropout technique, we identify 148 candidate radio sources at z ≳ 4–7 from the 887.5 MHz Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) observations of the GAMA23 field. About 112 radio sources are currently known beyond redshift z ∼ 4. However, simulations predict that hundreds of thousands of radio sources exist in that redshift range, many of which are probably in existing radio catalogues, but do not have measured redshifts, either because their optical emission is too faint or because of the lack of techniques that can identify candidate high-redshift radio sources (HzRSs). Our study addresses these issues using the Lyman Dropout search technique. This newly built s le probes radio luminosities that are 1–2 orders of magnitude fainter than known radio-active galactic nuclei (AGN) at similar redshifts, thanks to ASKAP’s sensitivity. We investigate the physical origin of radio emission in our s le using a set of diagnostics: (i) radio luminosity at 1.4 GHz, (ii) 1.4 GHz to 3.4 μm flux density ratio, (iii) Far-IR detection, (iv) WISE colour, and (v) SED modelling. The radio/IR analysis has shown that the majority of radio emission in the faint and bright end of our s le’s 887.5 MHz flux density distribution originates from AGN activity. Furthermore, ∼10 per cent of our s le are found to have a 250 μm detection, suggesting a composite system. This suggests that some high-z radio-AGNs are hosted by SB galaxies in contrast to low-z radio-AGNs, which are usually hosted by quiescent elliptical galaxies.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 04-02-2010
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 04-02-2022
Abstract: We report the discovery of J0624–6948, a low-surface brightness radio ring, lying between the Galactic Plane and the large magellanic cloud (LMC). It was first detected at 888 MHz with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), and with a diameter of ∼196 arcsec. This source has phenomenological similarities to odd radio circles (ORCs). Significant differences to the known ORCs – a flatter radio spectral index, the lack of a prominent central galaxy as a possible host, and larger apparent size – suggest that J0624–6948 may be a different type of object. We argue that the most plausible explanation for J0624–6948 is an intergalactic supernova remnant due to a star that resided in the LMC outskirts that had undergone a single-degenerate type Ia supernova, and we are seeing its remnant expand into a rarefied, intergalactic environment. We also examine if a massive star or a white dwarf binary ejected from either galaxy could be the supernova progenitor. Finally, we consider several other hypotheses for the nature of the object, including the jets of an active galactic nucleus (30Dor) or the remnant of a nearby stellar super-flare.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 13-10-2022
Abstract: We present a new Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) s le of 14 radio supernova remnants (SNR) candidates in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This new s le is a significant increase to the known number of older, larger, and low surface brightness LMC SNRs. We employ a multifrequency search for each object and found possible traces of optical and occasionally X-ray emission in several of these 14 SNR candidates. One of these 14 SNR candidates (MCSNR J0522 – 6543) has multifrequency properties that strongly indicate a bona fide SNR. We also investigate a s le of 20 previously suggested LMC SNR candidates and confirm the SNR nature of MCSNR J0506 – 6815. We detect lower surface brightness SNR candidates which were likely formed by a combination of shock waves and strong stellar winds from massive progenitors (and possibly surrounding OB stars). Some of our new SNR candidates are also found in lower density environments in which SNe type Ia explode inside a previously excavated interstellar medium.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 21-11-2006
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 25-10-2018
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Date: 2017
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 21-09-2019
Abstract: We present two new radio continuum images from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) survey in the direction of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). These images are part of the Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU) Early Science Project (ESP) survey of the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. The two new source lists produced from these images contain radio continuum sources observed at 960 MHz (4489 sources) and 1320 MHz (5954 sources) with a bandwidth of 192 MHz and beam sizes of 30.0 × 30.0 arcsec2 and 16.3 × 15.1 arcsec2, respectively. The median root mean square (RMS) noise values are 186 $\\mu$Jy beam−1 (960 MHz) and 165 $\\mu$Jy beam−1 (1320 MHz). To create point source catalogues, we use these two source lists, together with the previously published Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST) and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) point source catalogues to estimate spectral indices for the whole population of radio point sources found in the survey region. Combining our ASKAP catalogues with these radio continuum surveys, we found 7736 point-like sources in common over an area of 30 deg2. In addition, we report the detection of two new, low surface brightness supernova remnant candidates in the SMC. The high sensitivity of the new ASKAP ESP survey also enabled us to detect the bright end of the SMC planetary nebula s le, with 22 out of 102 optically known planetary nebulae showing point-like radio continuum emission. Lastly, we present several morphologically interesting background radio galaxies.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S10509-022-04086-X
Abstract: We present radio continuum observations of NGC 2082 using ASKAP, ATCA and Parkes telescopes from 888 MHz to 9000 MHz. Some 20 arcsec from the centre of this nearby spiral galaxy, we discovered a bright and compact radio source, J054149.24–641813.7, of unknown origin. To constrain the nature of J054149.24–641813.7, we searched for transient events with the Ultra-Wideband Low Parkes receiver, and compare its luminosity and spectral index to various nearby supernova remnants (SNRs), and fast radio burst (FRB) local environments. Its radio spectral index is flat ( $\\alpha = 0.02 \\pm 0.09$ α = 0.02 ± 0.09 ), which is unlikely to be either an SNR or pulsar. No transient events were detected with the Parkes telescope over three days of observations, and our calculations show J054149.24–641813.7 is two orders of magnitude less luminous than the persistent radio sources associated with FRB 121102 and 190520B. We find that the probability of finding such a source behind NGC 2082 is $P = 1.2\\%$ P = 1.2 % , and conclude that the most likely origin for J054149.24–641813.7 is a background quasar or radio galaxy.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 21-07-2009
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2017.70
Abstract: Unravelling apparent paradoxes has proven to be a powerful tool for understanding the complexities of special relativity. In this paper, we focus upon one such paradox, namely Bell’s spaceship paradox, examining the relative motion of two uniformly accelerating spaceships. We consider the view from either spaceship, with the exchange of photons between the two. This recovers the well-known result that the leading spaceship loses sight of the trailing spaceship as it is redshifted and disappears behind what is known as the ‘Rindler horizon’. An immediate impact of this is that if either spaceship tries to measure the separation through ‘radar ranging’, bouncing photons off one another, they would both eventually fail to receive any of the photon ‘pings’ that they emit. We find that the view from this trailing spaceship is, however, starkly different, initially, seeing the leading spaceship with an increasing blueshift, followed by a decreasing blueshift. We conclude that, while the leading spaceship loses sight of the trailing spaceship, for the trailing spaceship the view of the separation between the two spaceships, and the apparent angular size of the leading spaceship, approach asymptotic values. Intriguingly, for particular parameterisation of the journey of the two spaceships, these asymptotic values are identical to those properties seen before the spaceships began accelerating, and the view from the trailing spaceship becomes identical to when the two spaceships were initially at rest.
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Date: 29-12-2015
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 10-2007
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 06-04-2018
DOI: 10.1093/MNRAS/STY846
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 09-01-2023
Abstract: If the origin of life is rare and sensitive to the local conditions at the site of its emergence, then, using the principle of mediocrity within a multiverse framework, we may expect to find ourselves in a universe that is better than usual at creating these necessary conditions. We use this reasoning to investigate several origin of life scenarios to determine whether they are compatible with the multiverse, including the prebiotic soup scenario, hydrothermal vents, delivery of prebiotic material from impacts, and panspermia. We find that most of these scenarios induce a preference toward weaker-gravity universes, and that panspermia and scenarios involving solar radiation or large impacts as a disequilibrium source are disfavored. Additionally, we show that several hypothesized habitability criteria which are disfavored when the origin of life is not taken into account become compatible with the multiverse, and that the emergence of life and emergence of intelligence cannot both be sensitive to disequilibrium production conditions.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 04-04-2014
DOI: 10.1093/MNRAS/STU445
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 21-12-2022
Abstract: Recent detections of potentially habitable exoplanets around sunlike stars demand increased exploration of the physical conditions that can sustain life, by whatever methods available. Insight into these conditions can be gained by considering the multiverse hypothesis in a multiverse setting, the probability of living in our universe depends on assumptions made about the factors affecting habitability. Various proposed habitability criteria can be systematically considered to rate each on the basis of their compatibility with the multiverse, generating predictions which can both guide expectations for life’s occurrence and test the multiverse hypothesis. Here, we evaluate several aspects of planetary habitability, and show that the multiverse does indeed induce strong preferences among them. We find that the notion that a large moon is necessary for habitability is untenable in the multiverse scenario, as in the majority of parameter space, moons are not necessary to maintain stable obliquity. Further, we consider various proposed mechanisms for water delivery to the early Earth, including delivery from asteroids, both during giant planet formation and a grand tack, delivery from comets, and oxidation of a primary atmosphere by a magma ocean. We find that, depending on assumptions for how habitability depends on water content, some of these proposed mechanisms are disfavored in the multiverse scenario by Bayes factors of up to several hundred.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Start Date: 07-2024
End Date: 06-2027
Amount: $1,275,295.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 12-2011
End Date: 12-2016
Amount: $556,800.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity