Southampton Astronomy: 2024 projects available now!

Compact Objects and Time Domain Astronomy

Postgraduate Studies in Southampton: we have new projects for 2024 (and more coming soon)!

The School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton offers postgraduate studies (Ph.D.) in a variety of fields in astronomy and space science, including observational and theoretical astrophysics of our own and other galaxies, as well as the study of planetary magnetospheres. We also have a strong interest in high-energy, space-based astrophysics in general and in particular in the major gamma-ray satellite INTEGRAL.

Possible research topics are generally outlined by the research interests of our members of staff. If you have any questions about any particular topic you are welcome to contact people directly. Prof. Diego Altamirano would be glad to respond to any (in)formal enquiries.

Have a look at the astronomy group's home page to find out more on what we do here. More general information on postgraduate work in the Physics and Astronomy department at Southampton is available. For more information about the University and its surroundings, look at the University home page.

At the University of Southampton, we value diversity and equality. Both the University of Southampton and the School of Physics and Astronomy are proud to hold Athena Swan Silver Awards. To find out more about our commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion see here.

Research Projects for PhDs starting in Sep-Oct 2024

Several PhD places will be available in the astrophysics group this year, with projects chosen from among those listed below. Candidates need not express a preference for project/supervisor before interviews are held. Applications will be reviewed starting on January 31st 2024, and successful candidates invited for interview shortly afterwards. Late applications may be considered. We also offer the possibility to co-host PhD studentships in collaboration with ESO, Europe’s flagship observatory. PhD projects will typically be supervised by a member of staff of the astro group and one at ESO in Garching near Munich (Germany) or Santiago (Chile). Students will have the opportunity to work two years in an international environment in Germany or Chile before finishing their last year at the University of Southampton. Please contact a member of staff if you are interested.

Scroll down to view the PhD projects available this year

Contact

For further information, please contact:

Prof. Diego Altamirano

Room 4076 (building B46);
Ext. 21277

School of Physics & Astronomy
University of Southampton
Highfield, Southampton
SO17 1BJ, U.K.

Tel. +44-(0)-23-8059-1277
Email: D.Altamirano@soton.ac.uk

How to apply

To apply you will need to get an application form (which asks brief details of your past courses) and the names and addresses of two people who can provide you with a reference (you don't need to upload references yourself, the system will automatically send out a request to the contacts you have provided). The key aspects are (a) what degree course you have done, and any relevant components, especially project work, and (b) your references. Do not worry if you do not know exactly what you want to do. It would be surprising if you did!

If you are interested in applying and would like an application form and further information, please fill in the on-line form, apply to the "PhD Physics" programme (you have to search for PhD Physics, with Programme:Research and in the 2024-2025 academic year -- you can alternatively apply for PhD Physcis & Astronomy Mayflower - you do not need to submit multiple applications). If requested, please specify "Astrophysics" in the "Topic of field or research" section to have your application directed to the astronomy group.
For part-time research, please use the same link above but also contact Prof. Diego Altamirano for more information.
To download the application guide, please click here.

For more information on how to apply and online application form please visit the University web page.

Training
Research Facilities
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The build-up of galaxies over the last 10 billion years 

Galaxies are the building blocks of the Universe, and are made of stars, gas, dust and dark matter, all held together by gravity. In the local Universe galaxies can be broadly classified into discs, ellipticals and irregulars. Disc galaxies contain gas which is regularly rotating into a thin disc, and are forming new stars. Elliptical galaxies contain predominantly old stars arranged in randomly oriented, round-shaped orbits. Ellipticals don't have much gas and are no longer forming stars. Finally, irregular galaxies are often the result of the merger between two disc galaxies, are rich in gas and dust, and are forming stars at an intense rate. 
 
The dynamics and star formation activity of galaxies in the local Universe is intimately connected to their morphology. This is expected in cosmological models, which indicate that the evolution of galaxies is mainly driven by the properties of the giant dark matter “haloes” in which they reside. If the gas retains its angular momentum while it collapses within the dark matter halo, this will form a centrifugally-supported disc galaxy with an exponential light profile. On the other hand, mergers and/or powerful gas outflows can redistribute the angular momentum and yield an elliptical galaxy.
 
To understand how the connection between morphology, dynamics and star formation in galaxies that we observe today is established, we need to look at the distant Universe, where most of the present-day stars have been formed. In this project, we will conduct an observational programme to measure the spatially-resolved gas dynamics, star formation rate and stellar mass distribution in star-forming galaxies at z ≳ 1 or lookback times of ~10 billion years, which corresponds to the epoch when galaxies are most efficient at forming stars and the Universe was about 20% of its current age. We will measure the role of baryonic angular momentum, dark matter, mergers, and gas outflows in shaping the relation between morphology, dynamics and star-forming activity in galaxies. We will address the following questions: 
 
-- What physical processes regulate star formation in galaxies?

-- Are the dynamical properties of galaxies evolving with redshift?

-- What is the impact of baryons on dark matter haloes?
 
The student will use state-of-the-art observations from the largest telescopes on earth and in space, including the James Webb and ALMA telescopes to measure the mass, distribution and dynamics of stars and gas in distant galaxies. The student will receive training in the reduction and analysis of imaging, integral field spectroscopy and interferometry. The student will further have the possibility to use results from state-of-the-art semi-empirical models developed by our galaxy evolution group in Southampton to support and interpret the observational results of their project.
 


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Exploring the Time-Dependence of Kinetic Structure at Earth’s Bow Shock

When the solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere, it is heated and slowed from supersonic to subsonic speeds at the bow shock. Shockwaves in space are ‘collisioness’ – the energy in the flow cannot be dissipated by particle collisions (viscosity) since the density is far too low. Instead, electromagnetic effects at the smallest plasma scales must be responsible. These processes lead to a turbulent and strongly time-dependent shock transition region. Observations of Earth’s bow shock and the magnetosheath by state-of-the-art missions such as Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) enable high-resolution exploration of the 3D micro-physics of these regions at a particular snapshot in time. Furthermore, ‘string of pearls’ configurations of all 4 MMS spacecraft allow us capture shock processes at different times, effectively allowing us to directly observe how they evolve. The objective of this project is therefore to identify and characterise plasma process in the shock, and then examine how they evolve in time using a combination of spacecraft observations and simulations. 
The student will:
 
i) develop methods for identification and classification of time-dependent shock structures such as surface ripples, cyclic shock reformation, stream instabilities, and magnetic reconnection;
 
ii) utilize ‘string of pearls’ and other novel configurations of the MMS spacecraft to track the time evolution of these structures, and
 
iii) directly compare the observed time evolution to that seen in high performance plasma simulations run by the student in Southampton. We may also adapt these methods for use with interplanetary shocks observed by Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter, where serendipitous spacecraft conjunctions allow for observations of time dependence. 
 
We also expect these outcomes to aid in preparation for future science with missions such as NASA’s Helioswarm, and proposed missions such as Plasma Observatory and MAKOS.

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Searching for transient events with INTEGRAL and Swift

The IBIS telescope on the INTEGRAL satellite and the BAT telescope on the Swift satellite have been studying the hard X-ray sky for 20 years and have built a huge archive of observations.
 
The most striking feature of the hard X-ray sky is probably the extreme variability it shows, with many short-lived events lasting less than an hour. Short transient gamma-ray flashes signal key events in the lifetimes of individual galaxies and stellar systems. Both INTEGRAL and Swift telescopes make observations with typical durations of one hour, so looking for shorter events within each observation is a huge task, almost a needle in an astronomical haystack. BUT it’s also where the most exciting science is concealed – short events could be counterparts to the gravitational waves from black hole mergers, or the gamma equivalent of fast radio bursts, or even from terrestrial flashes created in storms. The origins of many of these events are areas of active research, but they need more examples of events.
 
The aim of this project is therefore quite straightforward – to develop new methods to search for, and identify, interesting transient events in the INTEGRAL and Swift hard X-ray and soft gamma-ray datasets. These methods may be analytical or employing machine learning and techniques derived from data science and ‘big data’ methods.
 
The student will be based in Southampton but will work with astronomers from the INTEGRAL instrument team (based in Rome and Bologna) and scientists from the European Space Agency. This project will have unique access to the INTEGRAL/IBIS slew data, which adds another 20% of previously unexplored data and will also be able to access near real-time data from INTEGRAL and join the hunt for new sources in the latest observations.

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Kinetic-scale Structures at Interplanetary Shockwaves

Plasma is continuously ejected into interplanetary space by the sun, forming the ‘solar wind’. The solar wind is a highly dynamic environment, driven by activity on the Sun’s surface and in the corona. Explosive releases of plasma from the Sun called coronal mass ejections (CMEs) expand into interplanetary space at supersonic speeds, generating a shockwave at their boundaries with the rest of the solar wind. Shockwaves in space are ‘collisionless’ – the energy in the flow cannot be dissipated by particle collisions (viscosity) since the density is far too low. Instead, electromagnetic effects at the smallest plasma scales must be responsible. At the boundaries of Earth’s magnetosphere, we have observed that ‘magnetic reconnection’ can contribute to this transfer of energy in the shock layer. Magnetic reconnection is a localised change in the magnetic topology which releases energy from the fields to the particles, leading to heating and particle acceleration. With the launch of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft, we have a new and growing database of observations of interplanetary shockwaves as they propagate through the inner heliosphere. The aim of this project is to identify whether (and where) structures associated with magnetic reconnection can be found within interplanetary CMEs, and quantify their impact on the energetics of the shock (including cosmic ray acceleration). This will be achieved using a combination of spacecraft observations and high-performance simulations. 
 
The student will:
 
i) adapt methods for identification and classification of kinetic-scale shock structures to spacecraft in the inner heliosphere;
 
ii) perform a survey of interplanetary shock waves driven by coronal mass ejections and other interplanetary shocks observed by Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter, and
 
iii) directly compare the observed structures and statistical trends to those seen at Earth and in high performance plasma simulations run by the student in Southampton. We expect these outcomes to aid in preparation for future science with missions such as NASA’s Helioswarm, and proposed missions such as Plasma Observatory and MAKOS.


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High Redshift Quasars in Next-Generation Spectroscopic Surveys

Quasars are among the brightest lights in our Universe and powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes.  With the advent of very large, highly multiplexed wide-field spectroscopic surveys, we are entering a golden age for studies of quasar demographics where the rest-frame ultraviolet and optical spectra can be used to characterise the accretion and outflow properties in large statistical samples extending out to the highest redshifts when the first galaxies were forming. 
 
The largest sample of spectroscopically confirmed quasars to date comes from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), which has provided us amost a million quasar spectra out to redshifts of 6. On account of the bright flux limit and optical wavelength coverage of SDSS however, it is not sensitive to both more distant and obscured quasars. In the former case the optical light is attenuated by dust around the quasar or in the quasar host galaxy while in the latter case it is redshifted into the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum.  
 
As part of this PhD project the student will have proprietary access to two new, state-of-the-art spectroscopic survey datasets from the 4MOST spectrograph on the ESO VISTA telescope and the MOONS spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope, which are due to begin observations in 2024-2025. Our team in Southampton is leading observations of high-redshift and dusty, red quasars with these new facilities, which will open new parameter space for quasar discovery and characterisation. 4MOST is capable of probing an order of magnitude deeper than SDSS and MOONS extends into the near infra-red wavelengths where the effects of dust attenuation are much less marked. As a result, they offer an unprecedented opportunity to extend the census of known quasars into the distant and obscured Universe. How many such quasars are out there? Are their properties such as black hole mass, strength of outflows, host galaxy characteristics - similar to or different from the well-established optically selected population from SDSS? The PhD will be observationally driven and motivated by the new findings with the 4MOST and MOONS proprietary data to which you will have access. 
 
You will be part of a vibrant and growing research team at Southampton including PhD students and postdoctoral researchers exploiting the latest multi-wavelength surveys and datasets to understand the high-redshift Universe. The project will give you an opportunity to join the 4MOST and/or VLT-MOONS Guaranteed Time Observation consortia and to work with scientists in the UK, Europe, USA and Chile.

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The Largest Survey of the Hard X-ray Sky - Ever!

When viewed through hard X-ray instruments, the sky gives an ever-changing view of the most energetic and explosive processes in the universe. Two instruments – the IBIS telescope on the INTEGRAL satellite and the BAT telescope on the Swift satellite have been studying the hard X-ray sky for 20 years and have built a huge archive of observations.
 
The goal of this project is to combine these two complementary datasets to make the most sensitive map of the hard X-ray sky ever produced. To do this will require new techniques to search for the faintest sources (these tell us about the object populations) and the bright but short-lived transient events that signal key events in the lifetimes of individual galaxies and stellar systems. The INTEGRAL and Swift archive contain 1000s (maybe much more) of events such as Supernovae, Black Hole Novae, Tidal Disruption Events, Gamma-Ray Bursts, Soft Gamma Repeaters coming from black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs.
 
Once the datasets are combined, this project will develop and deploy new machine learning tools to search for transient events and improve the sensitivity to faint persistent sources. This is the first step towards a catalogue of sources that scientists will use for decades to come. Beyond a list of sources, the survey will produce high-level data products such as spectra and light curves to see how the sources have evolved over two decades.
 
The student will be based in Southampton but will work with astronomers from the INTEGRAL instrument team (based in Rome and Bologna) and scientists from the European Space Agency.
 
As well as working together with an international team to create the definitive catalogue of hard X-ray sources, the student will also have access to the full dataset to develop a specialisation in the analysis of the object(s) of their choice – X-ray binaries, AGN, CVs – whatever interests them.


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Revealing Quasar Host Galaxies with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory 


The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is a ground-breaking astronomical facility due to start survey operations in 2024-25. The 10-year Legacy Survey of Space Time (LSST) conducted with this new facility will revolutionise astronomy by mapping the entire Southern sky every few days and generating a petabyte scale dataset containing billions of astronomical sources. Within the rich LSST dataset there will be millions of active galactic nuclei powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes. 
 
In the local Universe supermassive black hole mass is correlated with the stellar bulge mass of the host galaxy but is this also true at high-redshifts? What are the mechanisms by which supermassive black holes and their host galaxies assemble their mass and what role do mergers play in their assembly? It has been challenging to answer these questions because it is difficult to see the starlight within the host galaxies of rapidly growing black holes or quasars due to the glare of the bright quasar, which outshines the host galaxy by several orders of magnitude. LSST's sensitivity to low surface brightness features and image quality makes quasar host galaxies accessible via ground-based imaging. This becomes particularly true in the case of quasars enshrouded by dust as the dust dims the quasar light. Dusty quasars account for a significant fraction of black hole activity in the early Universe and could be a critical phase in the evolution of all massive galaxies.
 
The goals of the PhD will be to systematically characterise the multi-wavelength properties of quasar host galaxies as a function of redshift, luminosity and dust obscuration using imaging surveys. You will initially use data from HyperSuprimeCam and VIRCam processed through our in-house image processing pipelines before getting the opportunity to work with the first science images from LSST.
 
You will be part of a vibrant and growing research team at Southampton including PhD students and postdoctoral researchers exploiting multi-wavelength data to understand the high-redshift Universe, as well as research software engineers working on image processing pipelines for Rubin LSST and Euclid. As part of the wider team, you will explore synergies between LSST and wide-field spectroscopic surveys like 4MOST and VLT-MOONS as well as space-based imaging from Euclid. The project will give you an opportunity to be part of the international LSST Science Collaborations and to work with scientists in the UK, Europe, USA and Chile. You will confront “big data” challenges and develop a range of transferrable skills related to the analysis of large, complex and multi-variate datasets. 



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What causes galaxies to stop forming stars? 

Most of the stars of the present-day Universe are located in giant elliptical galaxies, which are very different from the galaxy we live in, the Milky way. Elliptical galaxies are amongst the most massive galaxies in the cosmos, have spheroidal morphologies and red colours, and were formed more than 10 billion years ago. They contain very little cold gas, and are not forming new stars at a substantial rate.
 
How these giant elliptical galaxies have been formed and evolved across cosmic history is one of the main puzzles for galaxy formation and evolution studies. Indeed, observations show that at their formation epoch, that is redshift z ~ 1 – 3, most galaxies were actively forming stars within extended stellar discs. Therefore, some mechanisms must quench star formation within galaxies, leaving behind a red spheroidal galaxy which evolves passively.
 
Theoretical models suggest that supermassive black holes are capable to rapidly quench star formation by injecting energy into the interstellar medium of galaxies and launch powerful winds that can expel large quantities of the cold gas from which new stars are formed. However, while there is a broad consensus that these winds are essential for galaxy evolution and quenching, theoretical studies are challenging because of the very different temporal and spatial scales involved. Observations are thus essential to understand the impact of supermassive black holes on galaxies and quenching, and the formation of giant ellipticals.
 
In this project, we will conduct an observational programme to identify and characterise the properties of powerful winds in massive star-forming galaxies at z ≳ 1 or lookback times of ~10 billion years, which corresponds to the epoch when giant elliptical galaxies have been formed. We will investigate the occurrence and properties of winds in the distant Universe, and connect this with the properties of the host galaxy such as stellar masses, star formation rates, morphologies, kinematics, cold gas content and conditions of the interstellar medium. This will allow us to address the following questions:
 
- What physical processes regulate star formation and quenching in distant galaxies?
 
- What is the impact of supermassive black holes on their host galaxy?
 
- Are galaxies hosting powerful winds undergoing morphological transformations?
 
The student will use state-of-the-art observations from the largest telescopes on earth and in space, including the James Webb and ALMA telescopes. The student will receive training in the reduction and analysis of imaging, integral field spectroscopy and interferometry. The student will further have the possibility to collaborate with other members of our galaxy evolution group investigating the physics of supermassive black holes, and support the interpretation of their observational results with of state-of-the-art semi-empirical models developed here in Southampton.
 


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Resolving the unresolvable: using lenses to map accretion onto black holes and neutron stars

White dwarfs located in the halo of Andromeda (M31) are expected to lens some of the 100s of X-ray bright, accreting compact objects (black holes and neutron stars) located in that galaxy. This lensing is not achromatic and results in predictable changes in brightness as a function of wavelength (IR/optical/UV/X-rays) which allows the accretion flow to be mapped. The project will include the exploration of the lensing profile as a function of time for a range of accreting systems, spectral state (driven by accretion rate) and impact parameter of the lens. This work will lead to predictions and triggers for instruments such as ZTF, JWST and XMM-Newton (amongst others) and an opportunity for the student to lead observing campaigns within this area of emerging science.

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Hidden black holes and the search for self-lensing binaries

Binary systems containing high mass stars evolve through a number of stages, and in many cases can appear as a black hole or neutron star orbiting at a large distance from a ‘normal’ companion star. This is a very long-lived condition which accounts for the vast majority of the millions of binary systems harbouring neutron stars and black holes in our Galaxy. Self-lensing occurs when the binary system is viewed edge-on such that optical light from the companion star is bent towards us and magnified. In the case of microlensing this is a one-off event, whilst self-lensing repeats on the orbital period of the binary. New citizen science projects are being led by Dr Middleton’s group which permit the vast amount of optical survey data from TESS and ZTF to be studied and self-lensing events searched for. The student will have an opportunity to explore these projects and the results coming from them, the latter involving the modelling and follow-up of any high probability events. The student will also explore the most promising methods for constraining the spin of the compact object being lensed which will involve theoretical and computational modelling.
 


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The effect of General Relativity on super-Eddington accretion

Compact objects (neutron stars and black holes) can accrete material through a disc which is bright across the EM spectrum. There is good theoretical and observational evidence that the accretion disc will be misaligned with the spin axis of the compact object; the resulting general relativistic effect of frame dragging leads to Lense-Thirring torques which can cause the accretion disc to precess (wobble vertically and radially). At extreme rates of accretion such as those found in tidal disruption events, ultraluminous X-ray sources and both local and high redshift AGN, the disc changes considerably, expanding and losing material via a wind. It has been suggested that super-Eddington discs/winds will also precess, giving rise to characteristic variability, the timescale of which encodes key information about the compact object. The student will develop new time-dependent analytical models for precessing super-Eddington discs in both AGN and X-ray binaries and apply these to data coming from X-ray satellite missions.


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Investigating the properties of active black holes in interacting galaxies

Supermassive black holes need gas to grow and power their activity. How the gas is transported all the way from the galaxy to the black hole is still a topic of research, but we have recently found evidence that interactions between galaxies can provide this gas. The reason why this is important, is because when black holes are active, the so called ‘Active Galactic Nuclei’ or AGN, they can release a copious amount of energy into their surroundings, possibly affecting the galaxy in which they are hosted.
 
In this project the student will investigate the properties of active supermassive black holes in galaxies with past interactions. The student will use state-of-the-art observational data (integral field spectroscopy, or 3D data cubes) of galaxies to: 1) determine the past history of black hole activity, to establish a timeline for the onset of AGN; 2) search for evidence for more than one supermassive black hole in galaxies with interactions. 

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Probing Neutron Stars physics using NASA's NICER mission

Neutron stars (NSs) are compact objects. The tiny NSs being no more than 20-30 km in diameter but containing masses of 1 to 3 times the Sun, represent extremes of gravity, pressure and density, making them the only stars where matter burns on the outside. Fortunately, some NS have close companion stars; gas from these stars, attracted by the compact object strong gravity, funnels and spirals towards it, forming an accretion disk. These systems are called NS low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs); the most powerful phenomena we observe from them are directly related to these accretion disks, as a large amount of gravitational energy is released when the matter approaches the compact object. This causes the inner accretion disk to reach temperatures as high as 100 million degrees and therefore to emit the bulk of the energy in the X-ray band of the spectrum. It is the flow of this accreting plasma onto the NS which provides one of the very few opportunities to directly probe the properties of the tiny (few km) regions where we can "see" General Relativity effects in action in otherwise inaccessible regimes.

This project will make use of high-time and high-energy resolution X-ray data from the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) to understand the physics of millisecond X-ray variations seen only around NS. NICER is the state-of-the-art NASA mission dedicated to the study of the extraordinary gravitational, electromagnetic, and nuclear physics environments embodied by neutron stars. The student will join the high-energy astrophysics group at Southampton, and will have the opportunity to collaborate with researchers from around the world.

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Simulating thermonuclear burning spread occurring on the neutron star surface


Type I X-ray bursts, commonly referred to as thermonuclear bursts, manifest on the surfaces of neutron stars in binary systems. As gas lands, spreads and accumulates on the surface of the neutron star, it creates a layer of “fresh” material that can potentially ignite if the right conditions are met.  Indeed, as the accreted material undergoes gravitational compression and heating, reaching critical temperature and density thresholds, thermonuclear ignition (fusion) of hydrogen starts. The subsequent nuclear reactions, predominantly facilitated by the CNO cycle, culminate in the rapid conversion of hydrogen into helium, accompanied by an explosive release of energy in the form of X-rays. This transient burst lasts only seconds to minutes, emmits more energy than the sun in a week, and offers a unique observational window into the extreme physical conditions prevalent on neutron star surfaces.   During this project, the student will simulate how the burning layer spreads on the neutron star surface once the critical conditions are met. The results of this project will be compared with observations and theoretical predictions.
 
The student will join the high-energy astrophysics group at Southampton, and will have the opportunity to collaborate with researchers from around the world.
 



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Pinning down the evolution of supermassive black holes from cosmic noon to today

All big galaxies in the universe host a supermassive black hole (SMBH) in their centre. And even though these black holes have masses of millions to billions times the mass of our sun, they only contribute 1% or less to the mass of the central galaxy where they are embedded. Yet, the SMBH masses and properties of this central galaxies are intimately related. Cosmic galaxy evolution models have shown that the active growth phase of SMBHs regulate the growth of the galaxy, but the detailed physical mechanism is yet unknown. A main reason for this open question is our lack of accurate, direct SMBH mass measurements over a large range of cosmic times. As a result, the SMBH growth history and the evolution of SMBH mass with respect to the galaxy mass are quite uncertain. 
 
In this PhD project, you will become an integral part of a revolutionary experiment to overcome this problem. Southampton is leading the 4MOST TiDES Reverberation Mapping survey to measure almost 1,000 SMBH masses over the last 10 billion years of cosmic evolution. The 25,000 spectra of actively accreting SMBHs taken with 4MOST will be combined with high quality photometric light curves from the Rubin Observatory's LSST dataset to characterise time lags between the continuum light and emission lines, which form the basis of the SMBH mass measurements. You will be exploiting these data and present the first SMBH masses from the combination of these state-of-the-art surveys. Given the wealth of unprecedented spectral and photometric data, there is a lot of new phenomena to be discovered in addition to working towards the main science goal. The project will be set in an international research team with plenty of opportunities to collaborate with and visit researchers across the UK, Europe and beyond.

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HUNTING FOR HIDDEN BLACK HOLES AND EXTREME TRANSIENTS USING LARGE SURVEYS

The project will centre on the themes of hunting for previously unknown black holes and other extreme cosmic monsters. Despite their extreme power outputs, these objects can often be difficult to find because they may be hidden behind thick veils of gas and dust, or their presence may be masked in other ways. Understanding their growth has implications not only for extreme physics at energies far beyond what we can create in laboratories, but also for galaxy evolution and cosmology. 

We now have new powerful telescopes to find these black holes using techniques across the electromagnetic spectrum, from infrared to visible light, X-rays and beyond. The e-ROSITA mission has created the most sensitive X-ray maps of the entire sky to-date, and data from powerful facilities such as NASA's JWST and WISE (and soon WFIRST) telescopes and Europe's Very Large Telescope interferometer will be available in the infrared. Rubin’s LSST will survey the entire southern sky for transient sources, while 4MOST camera is expected to dramatically enhance spectroscopic coverage of the sky starting 2025. Finally, ESA’s Gaia mission is adding unprecedented astrometric precision capabilities to such searches. 

This is an ideal opportunity for a PhD student to join our group and lead projects exploiting these revolutionary new telescope surveys to answer important astrophysical questions on these themes. There will be opportunities to travel abroad for observing, collaborations, and data analysis. You will learn data science analysis from very large surveys, and develop expertise in statistical techniques with wide applicability beyond astrophysics. Machine learning and artificial intelligence applications will be explored to enable automated searches and classifications on very large datasets. A period of study at India’s premier astrophysics institute, IUCAA, is possible for interested candidates with at least two years of self-funding.

Last updated 25 Nov 2023 PhD Admission Coordinator
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