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From Nanosecond Timing to Nanohertz Gravitational Wave Detection. Radio pulsars are the collapsed cores of once-massive stars that are renowned for their exceptional rotational stability. Ever since their discovery Australia has played a prominent role in the discovery and monitoring of these enigmatic sources. The timing and discovery of millisecond pulsars is an area where Australia is a world leader. This programme will use a powerful new instrument on the Parkes radio telescope to search for ....From Nanosecond Timing to Nanohertz Gravitational Wave Detection. Radio pulsars are the collapsed cores of once-massive stars that are renowned for their exceptional rotational stability. Ever since their discovery Australia has played a prominent role in the discovery and monitoring of these enigmatic sources. The timing and discovery of millisecond pulsars is an area where Australia is a world leader. This programme will use a powerful new instrument on the Parkes radio telescope to search for the minute influence of gravitational waves from supermassive black hole binaries on the millisecond pulsars.Read moreRead less
Nano-Engineering of Optical Fibre Fresnel Lenses. It is expected that the development of the Fresnel Lens Fibre will greatly enhance the simplicity with which fibres can be integrated into a variety of systems. An intrinsically focussing fibre will be cheap to produce and have significant size advantages over its competitors, thus giving it an excellent competitive advantage in the market place. Australia is home to a number of companies that would directly benefit from the commercialisation of ....Nano-Engineering of Optical Fibre Fresnel Lenses. It is expected that the development of the Fresnel Lens Fibre will greatly enhance the simplicity with which fibres can be integrated into a variety of systems. An intrinsically focussing fibre will be cheap to produce and have significant size advantages over its competitors, thus giving it an excellent competitive advantage in the market place. Australia is home to a number of companies that would directly benefit from the commercialisation of a Fresnel Lens Fibre. In addition to a range of possible telecommunications applications, the focussing fibre also has applications in spectroscopy, minimally invasive surgical procedures, and especially in the field of photodynamic therapy. Read moreRead less
Elucidating the mechanisms by which Scribble, Discs Large and Lethal Giant Larvae regulate epithelial polarity. Discs Large (Dlg) and Scribble are proteins that regulate cell shape by concentrating at particular regions within the cell and recruiting other proteins to that region. It is thought that the two proteins interact with each other, and with other proteins involved in protein trafficking and cell architecture, but it is not known how these events coordinate to produce a net outcome on ....Elucidating the mechanisms by which Scribble, Discs Large and Lethal Giant Larvae regulate epithelial polarity. Discs Large (Dlg) and Scribble are proteins that regulate cell shape by concentrating at particular regions within the cell and recruiting other proteins to that region. It is thought that the two proteins interact with each other, and with other proteins involved in protein trafficking and cell architecture, but it is not known how these events coordinate to produce a net outcome on cell shape. To answer these questions, the dynamic events involved in localization of Dlg, Scribble, and associated proteins will be determined, in mammalian cells and in whole organs of the vinegar fly.Read moreRead less
Quantum magnetometry on the microscale. This proposal will create a microscope for magnetic fields by measuring the quantum spin of a Bose-Einstein condensate at temperatures near absolute zero. Classical measurements of spin have underpinned transforming technologies, from magnetic resonance imaging to terabyte-scale hard-disc storage. We will make a truly quantum measurement of spin which will create a magnetic field microscope one million times more sensitive than the current state-of-the-art ....Quantum magnetometry on the microscale. This proposal will create a microscope for magnetic fields by measuring the quantum spin of a Bose-Einstein condensate at temperatures near absolute zero. Classical measurements of spin have underpinned transforming technologies, from magnetic resonance imaging to terabyte-scale hard-disc storage. We will make a truly quantum measurement of spin which will create a magnetic field microscope one million times more sensitive than the current state-of-the-art. The magnetic field microscope will be sensitive enough to measure fields from single biological cells and from superconducting nanosurfaces, giving critical new perspectives in biomedical research and next-generation electronics.Read moreRead less
Gamma-ray burst astronomy in the Swift era and beyond. The study of gamma-ray bursts is one of the most active and exciting fields in astrophysics, and touches on subjects that are of interest to all humans: e.g., to what extent was life on Earth shaped by cataclysmic explosions in our Galaxy? Australia's ROTSE-III telescope is the only facility in the southern hemisphere capable of rapidly (within 10 seconds) finding optical light from gamma-ray bursts. It will provide Australian astronomers ....Gamma-ray burst astronomy in the Swift era and beyond. The study of gamma-ray bursts is one of the most active and exciting fields in astrophysics, and touches on subjects that are of interest to all humans: e.g., to what extent was life on Earth shaped by cataclysmic explosions in our Galaxy? Australia's ROTSE-III telescope is the only facility in the southern hemisphere capable of rapidly (within 10 seconds) finding optical light from gamma-ray bursts. It will provide Australian astronomers with a competitive advantage in this high-profile field. The project will involve and inspire some of our best physics and engineering students.Read moreRead less
The first critical tests of many-body and correlated Quantum Electro-Dynamics (QED) in medium-Z atomic systems. Major difficulties are being encountered in the computation of high-order and correlated terms of Quantum Electro-Dynamical effects in atoms. We will make the first measurements for medium-Z atoms critically sensitive to two-electron QED, and the first tests of QED in this region accurate to 1%. This accuracy will allow new insight into two-electron systems, theoretical approaches, and ....The first critical tests of many-body and correlated Quantum Electro-Dynamics (QED) in medium-Z atomic systems. Major difficulties are being encountered in the computation of high-order and correlated terms of Quantum Electro-Dynamical effects in atoms. We will make the first measurements for medium-Z atoms critically sensitive to two-electron QED, and the first tests of QED in this region accurate to 1%. This accuracy will allow new insight into two-electron systems, theoretical approaches, and recent observed discrepancies between QED theory and experiment. This proposal follows recent successful experimental work using new capabilities of Electron-Beam Ion Traps (EBITs). Our recent publications have proven that this novel approach can yield new insight into the interaction of light with matter.Read moreRead less
New Enantiomeric Separation Technologies for Natural Product, Pharmaceuticals and Environmental Pollutant Characterisation. Enantiomeric characterisation allows evaluation of drug purity for potentially harmful constituents, consumer protection against adulteration of essential oils and natural materials, and study of chemical interactions in biochemical/environmental systems. Chromatograph technologies (GC, HPLC and CE)for enantioseparation are available, however limitations prevent multicompon ....New Enantiomeric Separation Technologies for Natural Product, Pharmaceuticals and Environmental Pollutant Characterisation. Enantiomeric characterisation allows evaluation of drug purity for potentially harmful constituents, consumer protection against adulteration of essential oils and natural materials, and study of chemical interactions in biochemical/environmental systems. Chromatograph technologies (GC, HPLC and CE)for enantioseparation are available, however limitations prevent multicomponent characterisation of complete sample mixtures. Critical choices involve: choosing a chiral selector that interacts differentially upon all enantiomers; incorporation of selector into high-efficiency chromatographic systems; application to all target compounds in the sample. We will synthesise novel chiral selectors, incorporate these into new separation columns, apply ultra-high resolution 2-dimensional GCxGC to broad-spectrum chiral analysis of volatile chemical samples.Read moreRead less
Coherent Optical Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing. Coherent optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) incorporates the benefits of OFDM to compensate for distortion and monitor the channel conditions in long-haul optical links. The advantages of CO-OFDM can help meet the challenges of future optical networks that Australia depends upon for its information infrastructure and economic growth. Australia is currently at the forefront of optical OFDM technology, and the ....Coherent Optical Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing. Coherent optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) incorporates the benefits of OFDM to compensate for distortion and monitor the channel conditions in long-haul optical links. The advantages of CO-OFDM can help meet the challenges of future optical networks that Australia depends upon for its information infrastructure and economic growth. Australia is currently at the forefront of optical OFDM technology, and the continuation of these research activities will further improve Australia's international ICT reputation. Furthermore, in the course of the project, a senior research associate and multiple highly-skilled students will be trained and exposed to techniques and innovations in this exciting field.Read moreRead less
New Pulsar Instrumentation for Gravitation Wave Detection and Understanding the Emission Mechanism. Millisecond pulsar timing currently provides the most sensitive method of detecting long-period gravitational waves which permeate the Universe. Parkes leads the world in the discovery and timing of millisecond pulsars. This has motivated the development of three new advanced instruments including a cyrogenic dual-band receiver, a very wide-band correlator and a baseband recorder with an in-built ....New Pulsar Instrumentation for Gravitation Wave Detection and Understanding the Emission Mechanism. Millisecond pulsar timing currently provides the most sensitive method of detecting long-period gravitational waves which permeate the Universe. Parkes leads the world in the discovery and timing of millisecond pulsars. This has motivated the development of three new advanced instruments including a cyrogenic dual-band receiver, a very wide-band correlator and a baseband recorder with an in-built supercomputer. We aim to exploit these new technologies to systematically study the pulsar population. We will establish a timing array which can detect gravitational waves, enable GLAST to identify over 100 gamma-ray pulsars and study the pulsar emission mechanism at sub-microsecond time resolution.
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Quantitative polarisation phase microscopy: A new tool for advances in structural analysis and biophotonics. Innovation in biomedical research is driven by technology in optical imaging. Optical imaging methods including polarisation microscopy are widely accepted and are at the forefront of biomedical scientific discoveries. This project undertakes fundamental and applied research innovatively combining polarisation imaging and quantitative phase imaging microscopy to uniquely quantify the phys ....Quantitative polarisation phase microscopy: A new tool for advances in structural analysis and biophotonics. Innovation in biomedical research is driven by technology in optical imaging. Optical imaging methods including polarisation microscopy are widely accepted and are at the forefront of biomedical scientific discoveries. This project undertakes fundamental and applied research innovatively combining polarisation imaging and quantitative phase imaging microscopy to uniquely quantify the physical thickness and morphology of birefringent specimens such as the cardiac muscle cell. This project, while of substantial intellectual merit in its own right, could also have the potential to lead to the detection of the mechanisms related to heart failure. Read moreRead less