Active galactic nuclei are thought to be powered by massive black holes. Through statistical studies of galaxies in different environments over a range of redshift we can eliminate candidate mechanisms. There will be a final exam and a mid-term research project instead of a We are also able to estimate the age of the stars that dominate the integrated light. The challenge of galaxy formation theory is to account for the fossilised properties of galaxies, such as morphologies, scaling relations, and chemical abundances, as well as the evolution of these properties with redshift. We plan to use IFS on the 8m Gemini and VLT telescopes to extend this work to higher redshift galaxies and into the infrared allowing us to "age" and "weigh" distant galaxies to test the assembly paradigm directly. The stars move on three-dimensional tori. We have also won a Marie Curie Excellence Grant from the European Commission for realising SWIFT, a novel integral field spectrograph. After tedious research and consultations. The Astrophysical and Planetary Science department at the University of Colorado Boulder is a very diverse department with interests in planets, stars, galaxies, cosmology and the techniques to measure interpret and teach. 150 Science Essay Topic Ideas. Key to our understanding are the links between host galaxy type, mass and environment, nuclear activity and starburst activity. J Bell-Burnell, S Justham, A Lynas-Gray, J Miller, P Podsiadlowski. However, it can be a daunting task to find unique, interesting topics like the ones listed below: How can physics reduce global warming? Based on our recent calculations, it now seems that a large fraction, if not the majority, of low-mass X-ray binaries may actually belong to a much more massive, previously largely ignored class of intermediate- mass X-ray binaries, and that standard textbooks on the subject need to be rewritten. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has shown us that galaxy interactions and mergers were more common in the distant past and that these events are frequently associated with star formation episodes. The UK Gemini Supportgroup is based in Oxford and provides user support for all UK users of Gemini as well as some specialist support for the international Gemini community. Each week we will also discuss a current preprint available on the The astronomical instrumentation group at Oxford has expanded rapidly in the last year, with a strong influx of new personnel and new projects. In addition, we also work on applications and refinements of the more traditional Schwarzschild method. In the latter case, the core of the star collapses to leave a compact remnant, a neutron star or in some cases a black hole. Research focuses on, among other things, developing new techniques to observe gravitational waves, observing magnetic fields and plasmas, theoretical modeling of star and planet formation, and the measuring of atomic collisions in a laboratory setting. Astrophysics Topics for a Research Paper. The Growth and Characterization of CdS Thinfilm by Solution Technique. The appointment of Professor Roger Davies has led to an expansion in astronomical instrumentation. The use of Type Ia supernovae as standard candles has provided evidence that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating. There are two fundamentally different types of supernovae: thermonuclear explosions which occur when a white dwarf is pushed above its maximum mass of 1.4 solar masses (the Chandrasekhar limit) and which leads to the complete disruption of the star (referred to as a 'Type Ia supernova'), and core-collapse supernovae which take place when the core of a massive star has exhausted all of its nuclear fuel. 100 Technology Paper Topics for Research Papers. A few galaxies have core regions with stellar kinematics that are completely decoupled from those of the rest of the galaxy and this is taken as an indication of a past merger, but when did it occur? In particular, we have made the first redshift surveys of faint radio galaxies. In the study of gravitational lenses, the program's main efforts are to discover new lens systems and to use known systems to extract information of astrophysical interest. COVID-19 Topics of Durham, UKATC) we have won a competitive bid to design and construct KMOS, the cryogenic, multi-object, near-infrared spectrometer for the ESO VLT. Through a developing link with the CLRC's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (also involved in the FMOS project) we are also contributing to the design and construction of a new 4-m. class survey telescope (VISTA) which will be sited close to the VLT in Chile in 2006. Displaying 1 - 15 of 204 news articles related to this topic. Very different conditions hold in the nuclei of starburst and active galaxies, but here too interstellar material plays a key role, often girdling the galaxy nuclei and hiding them from direct view and leading to different classifications of Seyfert galaxies. New instruments on the Gemini 8-m telescopes allow us to investigate these dusty circumnuclear regions at high spatial resolution for the first time. J Binney*, S Kay, S Khochfar, J Magorrian*, P Ferreira, J Silk. This shows that the stars in both components are the same age. The subject matter of physics includes mechanics, heat, light and other radiation, sound, electricity, magnetism, and the structure of atoms. In the Media. See our list of physics research paper topics.Physics is the science that deals with matter and energy and with the interaction between them. Topics: Astrophysics. a thurd of the course will be devoted to fundamentals, a third to We are preparing an observing project for the class which will used the Additional financial support is also available from the University. In theoretical astrophysics, there are strong programmes in the area of galaxy dynamics, cosmology, galaxy formation, dark matter and the cosmic microwave background radiation. Our main areas of involvement in the study are in setting the scientific requirements for an ELT and studying potential ELT instruments. KMOS will be equipped with deployable mini integral field units, thus providing spatially resolved information of over two dozen targets within a 7 arcminute diameter field. Without further ado, let’s delve into the physics topics list prepared specially for you! ADS abstract service, Recombination Coefficients for Hydrogenic Atoms, Distance Measures In Cosmology (PDF) by David Hogg, from astro-ph/9905116, Images of Orion taken by Michelle and Peter, Data table of brightest local group galaxies, The Philosophy of Astrophysics (and this Course! Logarithmic conformal field theories have been a major activity for many years; at present we are working on the properties of these theories in the presence of boundaries. The various binary interactions (mass loss, mass accretion and merging) can fundamentally change the structure of a massive star and may thereby account for many of the observational supernova sub-classes. Perhaps you would like to determine how best to aim a rifle in order to hit a target with a bullet. Physics World represents a key part of IOP Publishing's mission to communicate world-class research and innovation to the widest possible audience. We also attempt to understand the physics of stars, including the Sun, through the technique of astero- and helioseismology. Oxford astrophysicists are very successful in gaining observing time on observing facilities, including 8m class telescopes (Gemini, Subaru, and VLT) and the Hubble Space Telescope for optical and infrared observations, as well as facilities spanning the electromagnetic spectrum from X-ray (XMM-Newton), far-infrared (Spitzer), sub-millimetre (JCMT) through to radio (VLA) wavelengths. While supernova kicks are important for understanding the formation of LMXBs in the Galactic disc, in dense stellar environments like globular clusters, other processes may be more important. The current suite of operational Great Observatories include the Hubble … Two of the major areas of stellar research involve the study of the late evolution of stars leading to supernova explosions and the modelling of binaries, in particular those containing compact objects. It includes the formation of large scale structure in the Universe, the formation of galaxies, galaxy evolution, the dynamics of the Milky Way and other galaxies, gravitational lensing and the long term evolution of the Solar System. FMOS will see first-light in early 2005, and provides an excellent opportunity for a D.Phil student to become involved in the laboratory testing and science verification phase of the instrument which will address a wide range of science programmes from brown-dwarf stars to the evolution of galaxies at high redshifts. Astrophysics Research Current Missions. An improved understanding of protogalaxy evolution will have profound implications for understanding chemical evolution and for interpreting far infrared and submillimetre observations of star- forming galaxies in the distant Universe. We are actively modelling all the detailed physical processes involved in the merging of two massive stars, in particular the dynamical evolution of the system in the merger phase, the associated anomalous nucleosynthesis and the dynamical ejection of part of the envelope, presumably producing the triple-ring nebula around the supernova. This latter, more likely, possibility may be understood by irradiation effects which can dramatically change the structure of the irradiated normal star. Oxford was the coordinating node for CMBNET, a European network for collaborative research into the cosmic microwave background, and for the Early Universe European network for particle cosmology. The Anglo-Australian 2dF Redshift Survey measured redshifts for 250,000 galaxies; this provided the first three-dimensional measurements of galaxy clustering on the large scales that may be studied at early cosmic epochs by measuring fluctuations in the microwave background. These have yielded high-redshift radio galaxies whose host-galaxy light should be less affected by the active nucleus, and whose properties give direct information on the formation and early evolution of elliptical galaxies. Professor Steve Rawlings. Research topics in this diverse area range from innovative studies of the basic properties of condensed-matter systems to the nanofabrication and study of advanced electronic, optoelectronic, spintronic, and quantum-superconductor devices. In addition, Oxford hosts the UK's Gemini Support Group which seeks to assist UK observers with preparation and exploitation of their Gemini programmes, putting us in an ideal position to exploit these facilities. One of these surveys used the two-degree field (2dF) facility at the Anglo-Australian Telescope, which allows simultaneous measurement of the spectra of several hundred galaxies over that field. Type Ia supernovae have recently been used as cosmological distance candles (See Section 1.1.9) to measure the curvature of the Universe. There are good opportunities for graduate students studying for the D.Phil research degree (equivalent to Ph.D.). In addition to using normal and active galaxies as cosmological probes, there are a number of programmes at Oxford which aim to improve our understanding of how active galaxies work. In this work we apply the latest instrumental techniques that allow us to take a spectrum at every point in a galaxy simultaneously (using Integral Field Spectrographs, IFS) to produce a map of the velocity field and composition of the gas and stars. Considering that there is no agreement on what the progenitor systems of these supernovae actually are, this seriously weakens the cosmological argument. topics that will range accross stellar evolution, star formation, the A focus of our research includes the study of galaxy formation and evolution. Physics Research Topics for High School. It is a fast track project, to be realised over a four year timescale. simple digital astronomical data. Astrophysics Research Sponsored research programs prepare for the next generation of missions through both theoretical research and applied technology investigations. At face value, the results suggest an accelerating Universe, a dramatic break from the previous picture. G Dalton, R Davies, I Hook, I Lewis, P Roche, M Tecza, N Thatte. Understanding how galaxies form and unravelling the nature of the origin of the large-scale structure of the Universe are key unresolved issues in cosmology. Both sub-departments are situated close to each other on the Keble Road site, close to the centre of Oxford and the University Parks. Some hypernovae are observationally known to be related to gamma-ray bursts, the most violent and most energetic events known in the Universe. Writing Physics assignment like research papers, essays, term papers and thesis always require students to have good quality topics. By using multiple object spectroscopy at both optical and infrared wavelengths we can assemble large galaxy samples for this work. These are seen at times when the Universe was only about one billion years old, and are thus important for studying the earliest observable phases of galaxy formation. Philip Wetton Professor of Astrophysics & Head of Astrophysics: Professor Roger Davies We are taking a major role in the construction of the UK-Japan near-infrared, fibre-fed, multi-object spectrograph, FMOS, for the 8m Subaru telescope. We are now involved in designing, fabricating and deploying second generation instruments at three different 8-meter class telescopes - the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), the Gemini telescopes and the Japanese Subaru telescope. simulations which makes numerical modelling important for the laboratory plasma astrophysics. Patrick Roche is probing star forming regions to investigate the formation of low mass stars and planetary mass objects with the aim of increasing our understanding of these common, but poorly-understood members of the Galactic stellar population and the mechanisms by which they form. During the LMXB phase, it is generally believed that the neutron star is spun up by accretion of matter, leaving a millisecond pulsar once the X-ray phase has ended. Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology: This includes the search for the epoch of reionization (Hewitt) and the first generation of stars (Frebel), the study of structure formation on the scales of galaxies (Simcoe), clusters of galaxies (McDonald, Canizares), and the cosmic web (Masui). In turn this will give new information on the fragmentation of molecular clouds as they collapse to form stars. The origin of large-scale structure may be probed by studying trace fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background. Hypernovae are a rare, new supernova type, first identified in 1998, which are much more energetic than a normal supernova and are probably caused by the collapse of a rapidly rotating helium star to a stellar-mass black hole. This feature is preserved under slow adiabatic perturbations. 8. Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. While no such TZO has yet been discovered, recent theoretical calculations predict that these objects should show anomalous surface abundances of many chemical elements which should be easily detectable spectroscopically. As we probe the galaxy distribution to fainter magnitude limits, the study of galaxy clustering is affected by the evolutionary histories of the galaxies themselves, as we see more distant objects at earlier times. We are planning to use these predicted anomalies to search for these objects observationally. However, star formation can sometimes play a major role in the energetics of the nuclear region. The core is a remnant of the formation process, not the result of a late merger. The lower right panel shows that the strength of the H-beta Balmer absorption line is constant across the entire galaxy, both the decoupled core and main body. Applications for graduate study in astrophysics are considered jointly by the two sub-departments. Having used Sauron or a similar instrument to obtain a kinematical map of a galaxy, what does the map tell us about the galaxy's mass distribution? The Oxford instrumentation group have recently won a Marie Curie Excellence Grant from the European Commission for the design and realisation of SWIFT, a novel integral field spectrograph. SWIFT will provide integral field capability covering the wavelength range 0.7 to 1.0 micron. It is a very ambitious project, as it will require major modifications to the Gemini telescope, and to the way in which the Observatory is run. We know that the galaxy population in dense regions of the universe is quite different from that in regions of average density but we do not know why. The formation of planets around pulsars (indeed, the first planets outside the solar system were discovered around pulsars) is a related problem of much current interest. KMOS will be one of the VLT's second generation instruments, and will represent UK's major contribution to VLT instrumentation. Astrophysics research is carried out in two sub-departments of physics: Astrophysics and Theoretical physics. The study of the early Universe thus provides a unique laboratory for searching for relics from very early epochs for testing ideas from such theories as grand unification and supergravity. Theory provides predictions of the spectrum of fluctuations in the matter distribution of the Universe, but testing these predictions by making observations is by no means straightforward. Our work on these problems involves N-body simulation as well as more analytical approaches. Spectra of the close nuclear environment also provide kinematic information about gas in the narrow line region, and allow us to probe the physical conditions and excitation mechanisms of the circumnuclear environment. 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