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.
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
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.
Controlling parametric instabilities in advanced GW detectors. This project aims to solve the problem of parametric instability in gravitational wave detectors to support an international large-scale physics experiment. The project is part of Australia’s participation in the new advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) gravitational wave detectors that have been designed to achieve the first detection of gravitational waves. A 2005 prediction made by the project leader ....Controlling parametric instabilities in advanced GW detectors. This project aims to solve the problem of parametric instability in gravitational wave detectors to support an international large-scale physics experiment. The project is part of Australia’s participation in the new advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) gravitational wave detectors that have been designed to achieve the first detection of gravitational waves. A 2005 prediction made by the project leaders that the detectors would experience acoustic instabilities was confirmed during detector commissioning in 2014. The project team plans to work closely with the detector designers and commissioners to solve this problem and allow the detectors to achieve their target sensitivity.Read moreRead less
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