On 14 September 2015 gravitational waves, ripples in space-time, were detected for first time. Such ripples in the fabric of space-time are caused by some of the most violent processes in the Universe and the specific waves detected in 2015 were due to a pair of black holes merging together nearly 1.3 billion light years away.
Gravitational waves were predicted by Einstein about 100 years ago and the quest to detect them spanned half a century. Professor Weiss was at the centre of these efforts and he was awarded the 2017 Nobel prize in Physics for this discovery. He won half the prize, with Kip Thorne and Barry Barish sharing the other half.
The lecture will describe the history of gravitational wave detection, the techniques used by the instruments and the state-of-the-art data analysis that enables the measurement of gravitational waves. The links with Einsteinâs theory of relativity and the astrophysical implications will also be discussed. The talk will end with a vision for the future of gravitational wave astronomy.
Director of the STAG Research Centre, Professor Kostas Skenderis, says: âIt is a tremendous privilege to have Professor Rainer Weiss delivering our keynote address. The detection of gravitational waves, 100 years after they were first proposed by Einstein, is one of the most important scientific discoveries of our times and Professor Weiss has been a leader and a pioneer in the effort that led to this momentous discovery.â?
The STAG Research Centre brings together world-leading academics from three research fields â Theoretical Particle Physics, Astronomy and General Relativity â to improve our understanding of the Universe and the fundamental laws of nature.
STAG researchers explore problems ranging from the ultimate building blocks of matter to dynamics on cosmological scales, and actively engage with high-profile international experiments and observational facilities.
The annual STAG Public Lectures bring to Southampton highly distinguished guests to explain some of the greatest achievements in fundamental science.
To book your tickets for the talk, which is taking place at Turner Sims on the Universityâs Highfield campus, please visit the venue's website or call the Box Office on 023 8059 5151.
D Andy O'Bannon is using non-traditional techniques to explore the remarkable properties of modern materials
Pioneering research at the University of Southampton is setting aside traditional theoretical techniques to help explain some of the remarkable properties of modern materials such as graphene.
Dr Andy OâBannon, from the School of Physics and Astronomy, has been awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship to continue exploring two alternative approaches in the study of mysterious universal transport properties in strongly-interacting systems.
âOver the past 30 years many materials have been discovered with amazing properties that could have potentially revolutionary applications,â? Andy explains. âHowever, in many such materials the current-carrying electrons interact with each other very strongly. As a result, traditional theoretical techniques fail miserably to explain their amazing properties, or to predict news ones.
âMy research is thus based on radically different ânon-traditionalâ techniques, called conformal field theory and holographic duality. These have no problem describing strong interactions. Although they canât yet describe any real system, they provide theoretical `toy models' with the potential to uncover the principles at work in strongly-interacting systems. My goal is to use these techniques to uncover those principles, and hence to explain the amazing properties of strongly-interacting electrons.â?
Andyâs research would expand scientific understanding of materials such as graphene, a semi-metal that could be the basis for a new generation of electronics, topological insulators, which are showing great potential for quantum computing, and high temperature super-conductors that could save vast quantities of energy per year.
Holography and Boundary Conformal Field Theory are two complementary techniques in the study of strongly-interacting systems. âIn theoretical physics, holography is the statement that certain systems, namely gauge theories similar to Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), are in fact equivalent, in a precise sense, to Einstein's theory of gravity in one higher spatial dimension,â? Andy explains. âVia holography we can import techniques developed for relativity over the last century to compute observables in strongly-interacting systems.â?
Andy is one of five Southampton scientists from the STAG Research Centre that have Royal Society University Research Fellowships for holography or closely related areas, such as string theory or black hole physics.
âThe Royal Society's support has been truly incredible, and has allowed me to pursue far more ambitious, risky, and rewarding projects than I could have otherwise,â? he adds. âWe are fortunate that the UK is unique among nations in offering these types of fellowships. When combined with the existing staff in these areas, STAG is one of the largest research groups in these areas in the UK, so I'm not the only one who thinks these are promising directions. Many other people do too, and are working hard to turn the promise into reality.â?
The new nanoscale materials contain piezoelectric properties that convert motion into an electrical charge.
Researchers in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton are working on a nanoscale technology that could harvest power from our footsteps and unseen ambient energy in the environment.
Physicists are collaborating with industrial partner Merck to develop materials with piezoelectric properties that convert motion into an electrical charge. These advances could be used to enhance the output power of devices such as handheld displays, run autonomous sensors or even realise a future vision of portable renewable power sources.
Energy harvesting is a means of generating power from external sources and has great potential to impact society beyond its traditional uses in areas such as wind farming or solar energy.
âWe are mostly focusing on ways of harvesting energy from mechanical motion,â? Southamptonâs Marcus Newton explains. âWeâre working at a nanoscale level to define materials that generate sufficient power so that this disruptive technology could be used for a wide range of applications, including harvesting useful energy from everyday activities such as walking. If our research can produce the right device structure then we could harvest enough energy to power a portable device indefinitely. These could be very small because they are based on nanostructures and friendly to the environment since they wouldnât contain lead.â?
The current two-year industrial partnership is exploring potential new markets for novel materials being developed at Merckâs Chilworth Technical Centre based at the University of Southampton Science Park. Mark Goulding, Director at Merck Chemicals, values the interaction with Marcus and the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton. âWhen the University comes to us with an exciting new application for a materials class in which we have deep know-how and an interest to build business, it is exciting,â? he says. âThis collaboration has produced some very positive results for our materials.â?
Marcus, the projectâs academic supervisor, continues, âWe identified similarities between our research and as a result can foresee that this knowledge transfer partnership will enhance Merckâs portfolio of materials as we open a new branch of research. We have had some promising results and we are now testing new materials in the device environment.â?
The nanomaterials and devices being studied build on Marcusâ 20 years of experience in the field, which he is continuing in Southamptonâs Computational Modelling Group. The research team includes postdoctoral research associate Charles Opoku and an undergraduate Masters student from the University of Nottingham.
Kelsey, L., Sullivan, M., Wiseman, P., Brout, D., Frohmaier, C., Galbany, L., Grayling, M., Gutirrez, C. P., Hinton, S. R., Kessler, R., Lidman, C., Mller, A., Sako, M., Scolnic, D., Uddin, S. A., Vincenzi, M., Aguena, M., Allam, S., Annis, J., Avila, S., Bertin, E., Burke, D. L., Carnero Rosell, A., Carrasco Kind, M., Carretero, J., Castander, F. J., Costanzi, M., da Costa, L. N., Desai, S., Diehl, H. T., Doel, P., Everett, S., Ferrero, I., Fert, A., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Garca-Bellido, J., Gerdes, D. W., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R. A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Hollowood, D. L., Honscheid, K., Kim, A. G., Kuehn, K., Kuropatkin, N., Lahav, O., Lima, M. and Martini, P.
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The Dark Energy Survey Collaboration(2020)The effect of environment on Type Ia supernovae in the Dark Energy Survey three-year cosmological sample.Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 501(4), 4861-4876.
(doi:10.1093/mnras/staa3924).
Dr Adam Hill will lead a DataDive to help charities use data to gain insight into their programmes
Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton, together with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and DataKind UK, will run a hackathon-style event next month delving into data and analysis for two national charities.
The DataDive will tap into powerful data science techniques being introduced to the School of Physics and Astronomy by Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence Dr Adam Hill. The event will run on Thursday 20 and Friday 21 September, supporting the Shelter and Parkinsonâs UK charities.
We spoke to Adam to find out more about the DataDive and how data science is transforming the field of astronomy:
What is a DataDive?
DataDives are high energy, hackathon-style two day events where charities and social enterprises work alongside teams of volunteer data scientists, analysts, developers and designers using data to gain insight into their programmes and to increase their impact.
DataKind UK is the charitable organisation that leads these DataDive events. They recruit charity partners and spend two months scoping out viable projects. Our upcoming DataDive in Southampton will bring together volunteers from the academic community at the University with volunteers from the Office of National Statistics to help two national charities derive data-driven answers to specific questions and challenges that they have.
What do you hope to achieve in next monthâs event in Southampton?
We will have over 60 volunteers working with Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity, and Parkinsonâs UK.
First and foremost I hope we achieve the charitiesâ goals of exploring their data. For Shelter, we aim to build models to help the charity to understand needs at a local and national level. For Parkinsonâs UK, weâre going to look at the coverage and cost of hospital treatments, how Parkinsonâs trained nurses are distributed across the UK, and how demand will change over the next 25 years.
As the first event of its kind at Southampton I hope it stimulates more engagement between the academic community and social projects as there are lots of skills within universities that are both expensive and in short supply within the third sector. Finally, I hope that it will act as a networking melting-pot, introducing academics of different departments to analysts and researchers from the Office of National Statistics and other government departments, seeding future productive relationships and collaborations.
Previous DataKind DataDives have had many outcomes including:
- demonstrating that there are around 140,000 young homeless people in England, contrary to official government numbers which show that there are 16,000
- streamlining a childrenâs hospice referral process, identifying a potential saving of up to £90,000 a year for childrenâs hospices across the country
- improving how Companies House collects data on company ownership and providing parliamentary evidence that contributed to the introduction of the 2018 Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill
What is your role as a data scientist at the University?
I am a data scientist in a private company, HAL24K, that works in the smart-city sector. Since April 2018, I have also been a Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR) within the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton.
This means I spend 20% of my time at the University, where I encourage and support the incorporation of data science techniques and methodologies within scientific research activities. I also support those looking to further their data science skills. One of the centre points of my original EiR proposal was to link the academic community with the charitable data science sector via DataKind UK, a data science charity that I have been actively involved with for the past few years.
What opportunities for astronomy are being presented by data science?
Data science is a multi-disciplinary field that joins together statistics, computer science and domain knowledge. It is enabled by the cheap, powerful computing resources that are available today in combination with the vast quantities of data that we are collecting in the modern world.
The role of data scientists is to use the technology and data to ask questions of business, society and science, find new ways to answer old questions and identify new opportunities for innovation.
Astronomy is entering an unprecedented age of data collection. New projects will collect massive amounts of data, which is more than any individual scientist or team could inspect by hand; the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will produce 20 TB per night! New tools and techniques that exploit machine learning and other data science tools are needed if we will extract all of the science from these ambitious new projects.
Researchers within the School of Physics and Astronomy are using machine learning to automatically classify objects in large surveys; they have used graph database technology to model galaxy merger histories; and they use advanced modelling techniques to accurately estimate the brightness of supernovae.
Weâre looking for volunteers with data analysis and visualisation skills from across the University to volunteer their time and skill over the two days.
If youâd like to take part, please register your interest here: https://adam66.typeform.com/to/z4QymQ
The Optical Multi-Parameter Analyser is a portable and compact instrument, for measuring and characterising liquid crystal cells
Researchers at the University of Southampton have invented a cost-effective tool for the research, development and study of the latest liquid crystal displays.
The Optical Multi-Parameter Analyser, or OMPA, is an all-in-one instrument for the characterisation of liquid crystal cells, an essential component in the screens of televisions, computers and tablets that dominate our contemporary lives.
The equipment builds upon years of cutting-edge research in the Soft Photonics Systems (SoPHT) Group, which combines expertise from Southamptonâs Schools of Physics and Astronomy and Mathematical Sciences.
âLiquid crystals are used in devices that are all around us, but in order to develop these incredible applications, liquid crystal engineers and researchers need specialist equipment to measure and characterise key properties of liquid crystal cells,â? Professor Malgosia Kaczmarek explains. âThey need to know how fast and reliable the devices are and whether parameters, like their optical quality, change in time and with use. OMPA uses powerful data analysis techniques with cross-polarised intensity measurements to determine liquid crystal parameters.
âUnlike its competitors, OMPA is a portable and compact instrument. The technology is enabling researchers to answer vital questions that enable key advances in our industry, for example, new un-doped or functionalised liquid crystals or the alignment of liquid crystals with photo-active polymers.
âOMPA not only operates with standard liquid crystal cells but can also be customised to measure parameters in assembled devices, making it suitable for long-term stability measurements. âYou can use it in your laboratory, but it can also be deployed as an ideal teaching instrument,â? Malgosia adds.
The SoPHT Groupâs wider research goal is to explore how the self-organising nature of materials, such as liquid crystals and photosensitive films, can be manipulated by light, structured geometries and inorganic nanoparticles. The groupâs experimental investigation and mathematical approaches have paved the way for innovative, adaptive optical components and technologies. The work has also produced other commercially available, bespoke tools for the fabrication and characterisation of liquid crystal cells and devices.
Students can use Southampton's rooftop observatory for their project work.
Fourth year physics students at the University of Southampton have the opportunity to spend time embedded in our research groups, where they work with peers and academic staff on an extended research project.
These MPhys projects, which extend over both semesters of the final year, develop important research skills. Students can choose a project in the field of physics which most interests them.
Past projects have included analysing astronomy data from the Cassini satellite, investigating aspects of particle physics using CERN data and performing Raman scattering measurements on nanomaterials to study their optical, electronic and vibrational properties.
Here's a round-up from three projects that were completed this summer:
Applying Bayesian Inference techniques to financial market data
James Stephens developed an algorithm during his final year project that applied Bayesian Inference techniques used in particle physics simulations to the analysis of financial market data. He wrote the algorithm using Python, a coding language he learnt during the second year of his degree.
âI thoroughly enjoyed the independence of creating my project from scratch, with the comfort in knowing Iâm being supervised by an expert in their field,â? James says. âIt was satisfying to be able to use the knowledge I accumulated over my degree to tackle a real-world problem outside of physics, namely in the area of mathematical finance.â?
James worked alongside Dr Andreas Jüttner from the Southampton High Energy Physics (SHEP) Group to produce a final product that could precisely determine the parameters of artificial stock market data.
âThe skills and knowledge attained from this project gave me the confidence to move on to a Software Implementation Analyst job at an algorithmic multi-equity trading firm in London,â? he says. âThey made it clear after the interview process that the problem-solving mind-set that was refined during my physics degree is what set me apart from computer science graduates competing for the same job.â?
Investigating the Hubble constant
Jenny Edwards spent her final year project investigating the Hubble constant, a measure of the rate of acceleration of the Universe. This measurement can in turn be used to define several important cosmological parameters, including the age of the Universe and amount of dark energy it contains.
Jenny worked with Professor Mark Sullivan from the Southampton Astronomy Group on her project as she measured the brightness of exploding dead stars known as supernovae. She advanced the project with data from the Universityâs rooftop observatory and The Liverpool Telescope in La Palma, Spain.
âThe experience was really interesting because it was a chance to specialise and do in-depth research on a topic I enjoy,â? she says. âI particularly enjoyed the fact we were able to do our own data collection using the Southampton telescope. It meant some late - and cold â nights as we collected our own measurements and contributed live data to the project, which improved our analysis skills as we had to do a lot of calibration.â?
Jenny is set to begin the defence engineering graduate scheme with Lockheed Martin UK in September.
âI am confident this project has helped me going forward,â? she says. âGroup work is key in many aspects of life but especially so in an engineering team, where communication is important to be able to produce results when people have different skills.â?
Using the university cleanroom to fabricate devices for single-photon applications
Chris Meayers gained experience in electron-beam lithography during his project in the Universityâs world-leading cleanrooms, the largest multidisciplinary facility of its type in the UK. He worked alongside Dr Luca Sapienza, of the Solid State Quantum Optics Group, on the fabrication and characterisation of devices that can be used for single-photon applications.
âThe experience was rewarding when you can see how your personal contribution improves the results of research,â? he says. âI enjoyed fabricating the devices as this was particularly hands-on and developed technical skills beyond what I had learned during the undergraduate degree. I also liked the freedom in choosing how to go about achieving the goals set out by the supervisor.â?
The source of light in Chrisâ project was a nano-scopic diamond implanted with nitrogen, which produces an atom-like electronic level system. The focus of the fabrication was to write gold rings onto the device that then enhance the light emission.
âMy studies have definitely prepared me for work in a scientific environment, in both knowledge and mind-set,â? he adds.
