About
General Relativity predicts the emission of gravitational waves during the inspiral and coalescence of systems of black holes and neutron stars. In order to interpret and facilitate the detection of gravitational waves from these, detailed theoretical understanding of general relativity and spacetimes around black holes and neutron stars is required. Members of the Gravity group study the gravitational collapse and formation of black holes, the dynamics of matter around black holes, and the gravitational radiation-reaction-driven merger of systems of neutron stars and stellar mass, intermediate mass, and supermassive black holes.
Neutron stars are invaluable laboratories for probing the state of matter under extreme conditions, and observations of neutron stars provide complementary information to that obtained from particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider. Members of the Gravity group model the complex physics of neutron stars (including supranuclear physics with magnetohydrodynamics and exotic phases of matter like superfluids, superconductors, and deconfined quarks) and the observational signatures of these physics (for example as seen from radio and X-ray pulsars as well as gravitational waves from neutron star mergers).
Find out more about our regular Gravity seminars.
Shining a light on neutron stars with string theory
People, projects, publications and PhDs
People
We are opening our eyes to what's out there - the invisible, dark side of the Universe, that we can only reveal through gravitational waves.
Related research institutes, centres and groups
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Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
We focus on mathematical modelling and mathematical physics, and investigate everything from neutron stars to superfluids. -
Mathematical Modelling
The modelling group focuses on mathematical modelling across science and engineering, including physics (from the physics of quanta and strings to that of liquid crystals), chemistry (modelling lithium-ion batteries and solar cells), engineering (controlling sound direction), biology, medicine and healthcare (from stem cell population dynamics to medical imaging and healthcare models). -
String Theory and Holography
The group works on all aspects of fundamental physics - string theory; quantum field theory; applications to gravity, black holes, cosmology, particle physics, condensed matter and quantum information.