Counting neutrinos to per-mill accuracy. This Project aims to supply the most precise to-date calculation of a critical parameter in cosmology, the effective number of neutrinos, in the context of the standard model of particle physics. Crucial to the correct interpretation of cosmological observations, this parameter enables the reconstruction of the universe's timeline from which to infer its properties. The expected outcome is a number of 4-digit significance that can be used in all future co ....Counting neutrinos to per-mill accuracy. This Project aims to supply the most precise to-date calculation of a critical parameter in cosmology, the effective number of neutrinos, in the context of the standard model of particle physics. Crucial to the correct interpretation of cosmological observations, this parameter enables the reconstruction of the universe's timeline from which to infer its properties. The expected outcome is a number of 4-digit significance that can be used in all future cosmological computations/analyses. Besides raising Australia's international profile in basic science research, this project expects to provide significant societal benefits via the training of HDRs in advanced mathematical modelling and computing, transferable skills across many sectors.Read moreRead less
Revealing the Unseen Universe with Gravitational Lensing. This project will analyse new Australian led observations from the Hubble Space Telescope of light being bent around massive galaxies by gravity. To analyse these images we must develop advanced physical models and statistical techniques. This analysis will give us highly magnified views of early galaxy evolution revealing physical details otherwise impossible to see. It will also allow us to put constraints on the nature of invisible dar ....Revealing the Unseen Universe with Gravitational Lensing. This project will analyse new Australian led observations from the Hubble Space Telescope of light being bent around massive galaxies by gravity. To analyse these images we must develop advanced physical models and statistical techniques. This analysis will give us highly magnified views of early galaxy evolution revealing physical details otherwise impossible to see. It will also allow us to put constraints on the nature of invisible dark matter with the possibility of detecting warm dark matter signatures and enable us to probe the expansion of the Universe, testing whether the unseen dark energy is evolving in time. The Hubble sample is much larger and a major advance on previous work, and enables breakthrough science in these areas.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE240100044
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$860,000.00
Summary
Cryogenic Experimental Laboratory for Low-background Australian Research. This project aims to build an open-access cryogenic facility in the only deep-underground physics laboratory in the southern hemisphere. This facility, called the Cryogenic Experimental Laboratory for Low-background Australian Research (CELLAR), will provide extreme shielding from sources of noise, enabling ultra-precise experiments for fundamental science and emerging applications. The expected outcomes include a deeper u ....Cryogenic Experimental Laboratory for Low-background Australian Research. This project aims to build an open-access cryogenic facility in the only deep-underground physics laboratory in the southern hemisphere. This facility, called the Cryogenic Experimental Laboratory for Low-background Australian Research (CELLAR), will provide extreme shielding from sources of noise, enabling ultra-precise experiments for fundamental science and emerging applications. The expected outcomes include a deeper understanding of astrophysics, alongside technological advances in emerging quantum technologies. CELLAR’s unique capabilities will attract strong international collaborations with multidisciplinary teams, educating the next generation of scientists and advancing the growth of Australian high-technology industries.Read moreRead less
Atomic sensors for dark matter, rotation and magnetic fields. This project aims to develop ultra-high-performance sensors. The research will explore new methods for using the magnetic and optical properties of atomic gases to enable multi-parameter sensing without crosstalk between measurements. It is expected that techniques will be developed to allow simultaneous sensing of rotation and magnetic fields using devices that are compact, ultra-precise and energy efficient. It is also anticipated t ....Atomic sensors for dark matter, rotation and magnetic fields. This project aims to develop ultra-high-performance sensors. The research will explore new methods for using the magnetic and optical properties of atomic gases to enable multi-parameter sensing without crosstalk between measurements. It is expected that techniques will be developed to allow simultaneous sensing of rotation and magnetic fields using devices that are compact, ultra-precise and energy efficient. It is also anticipated that these new atomic sensors will support a global network looking for dark matter, which although never seen, is thought to make up 85% of the mass of the universe. The outcomes are expected to benefit medical science, geo-exploration, high-tech manufacturing, navigation and our understanding of the universe.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240101129
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$442,000.00
Summary
Synergy between future 21-cm experiments and physical cosmology. The nature of dark matter and formation of the first galaxies are both unsolved mysteries. During the first 500 million years, our universe was filled with hydrogen atoms illuminated by the first galaxies. The 21-cm radiation from this gas encodes properties of unseen galaxies and dark matter during this so-called cosmic dawn. This project aims to build an innovative framework to leverage future 21-cm experiments using The Square K ....Synergy between future 21-cm experiments and physical cosmology. The nature of dark matter and formation of the first galaxies are both unsolved mysteries. During the first 500 million years, our universe was filled with hydrogen atoms illuminated by the first galaxies. The 21-cm radiation from this gas encodes properties of unseen galaxies and dark matter during this so-called cosmic dawn. This project aims to build an innovative framework to leverage future 21-cm experiments using The Square Kilometre Array to observe cosmic dawn, and to forecast the optimal constraints on dark matter physics. Additional outcomes include the largest cosmological simulation of the first galaxies powered by neural networks and improved knowledge of their properties using Bayes' theorem and The James Webb Space Telescope.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100206
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$403,000.00
Summary
Probing ultralight bosons with black holes and gravitational waves. This project aims to search for gravitational waves from ultralight boson clouds around black holes and to investigate the boson properties. It expects to generate new knowledge on currently undiscovered particles by combining cutting-edge theories and innovative signal-processing techniques. These particles are predicted to solve problems in particle and high-energy physics and are compelling dark matter candidates. Expected ou ....Probing ultralight bosons with black holes and gravitational waves. This project aims to search for gravitational waves from ultralight boson clouds around black holes and to investigate the boson properties. It expects to generate new knowledge on currently undiscovered particles by combining cutting-edge theories and innovative signal-processing techniques. These particles are predicted to solve problems in particle and high-energy physics and are compelling dark matter candidates. Expected outcomes include high-profile constraints on the particle properties and potential detection of new particles, new data-analysis techniques, and significantly enhanced capacity to build international and interdisciplinary collaborations. These should bring significant benefits to fundamental physics and cosmology.Read moreRead less
Converging on new particles and fundamental symmetries. The goal of this project is to test theories for new particles and fundamental symmetries. By using advanced computational and statistical methods to combine all relevant data from many different experiments with a large number of different theoretical predictions, it expects to reveal just how well different theories actually describe reality. This will help us to understand what new particles and fundamental symmetries exist beyond thos ....Converging on new particles and fundamental symmetries. The goal of this project is to test theories for new particles and fundamental symmetries. By using advanced computational and statistical methods to combine all relevant data from many different experiments with a large number of different theoretical predictions, it expects to reveal just how well different theories actually describe reality. This will help us to understand what new particles and fundamental symmetries exist beyond those we already know. It will lead to new algorithms and computational methods in machine learning and statistical sampling, and will train a cohort of graduates highly skilled in statistical data science and research computing.Read moreRead less
Fundamental physics in distant galaxies. The fundamental constants of Nature are assumed to characterise physics in our entire Universe, but are they really the same everywhere and throughout its entire 14 billion year history? This project will answer this question with the first large-scale, purpose-built observational programme on one of the world's biggest and best telescopes.
Fundamental physics with the large scale structure of the Universe. Using data from upcoming galaxy and weak gravitational lensing surveys, this project aims to address fundamental questions of cosmology: how massive are neutrinos? Are there exotic relativistic matter components? How exactly were the initial density fluctuations generated? Current theoretical predictions of the growth of cosmic structures are not able to match the expected precision of future measurements. This project aims to s ....Fundamental physics with the large scale structure of the Universe. Using data from upcoming galaxy and weak gravitational lensing surveys, this project aims to address fundamental questions of cosmology: how massive are neutrinos? Are there exotic relativistic matter components? How exactly were the initial density fluctuations generated? Current theoretical predictions of the growth of cosmic structures are not able to match the expected precision of future measurements. This project aims to solve this problem and allow for the full harnessing of discovery potential of the observations. By combining numerical simulations of the Universe with a machine-learning algorithm, accurate and efficient estimation of cosmological parameters will be made possible.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101859
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Dark matter particle physics and the first sources of light in the universe. Dark matter is a mysterious, invisible substance that underlies all the structure we see in the universe today. The project will show how the first sources of light in the universe were affected by the particle physics of dark matter and will make predictions for how astronomical observations can be used to solve the enigma of dark matter's true nature.