Astrophysics

Astrophysics is an area concerning various physical ranging from planetary sized systems, to galactic scale systems and beyond, that intersects various disciplines such as Newtonian dynamics, relativistic physics and particle physics processes.

For our latest developments/activities in this area, please see the listing below at the end of this article.

Exoplanets

An exoplanet is a planet outside the Solar System. In the Milky Way galaxy, it is expected that there are many billions of planets (at least one planet, on average, orbiting around each star, resulting in 100–400 billion exoplanets), with many more free-floating planetary-mass bodies orbiting the galaxy directly.

We study the long-term dynamics of known multi-planet systems. This allow us to test the accuracy of the orbital parameters' determinations, as well as to understand how these systems evolved. We also look for the stable zones in the gaps between already-known planets in order to determine where is it possible to locate Earth-like planets.

See here a movie made by the PhD Animation on "Exoplanets Explained", for a review on the main observational methods used to detect exoplanets.


Latest Astrophysics Publications

Magnetised tori with magnetic polarisation around Kerr black holes: variable angular momentum discs, S. Gimeno-Soler, O. M. Pimentel, F. D. Lora-Clavijo, A. Cruz-Osorio, J. A. Font; arXiv:2303.15867 [astro-ph.HE].

Publication type
Regular Articles
Read more

Bondi-Hoyle-Lyttleton accretion onto a rotating black hole with ultralight scalar hair, A. Cruz-Osorio, L. Rezzolla, F. D. Lora-Clavijo, J. A. Font, C. Herdeiro, E. Radu; arXiv:2301.06564 [astro-ph.HE].

Publication type
Regular Articles
Read more

Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton neutral black holes in strong magnetic fields: topological charge, shadows and lensing, Haroldo C. D. Lima Junior, Jian-Zhi Yang, Luís C. B. Crispino, Pedro V. P. Cunha and Carlos A. R. Herdeiro; Phys. Rev. D 105 (2022) 064070, arXiv:2112.10802 [gr-qc].

Publication type
Regular Articles
Read more

Spinning gauged boson and Dirac stars: a comparative study, Carlos Herdeiro, Ilya Perapechka, Eugen Radu, Yakov Shnir, Phys. Lett. B 824 (2022) 136811, arXiv:2111.14475 [gr-qc].

Publication type
Regular Articles
Read more

All-sky, all-frequency directional search for persistent gravitational-waves from Advanced LIGO's and Advanced Virgo's first three observing runs, LIGO Scientific, VIRGO and KAGRA Collaborations, R. Abbott et al. (includes N. Sanchis-Gual); Phys. Rev. D 105 (2022) 12, 122001, arXiv:2110.09834 [gr-qc].

Publication type
Regular Articles
Read more

Latest Astrophysics News & Events

Prospects for multi-probe cosmology as gravity and inflation probes

Seminar_logo_event
Speaker
Jose Fonseca (Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço)
Event date
Venue
Hybrid Sala Sousa Pinto (Math dpt) and Zoom
Event type

The next decade will see an overwhelming number of cosmological surveys coming online. The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) will, among several other science cases, map the distribution of cold neutral Hydrogen in the Universe using its spin-flip transition emission line at rest of 21cm or 1.4GHz and a novel technique called Intensity Mapping (IM).

Asymmetric binaries as astrophysical laboratories to probe new fundamental fields

Seminar_logo_event
Speaker
Andrea Maselli (GSSI, INFN)
Event date
Venue
Hybrid Sala 11.2.21 (Math dpt) and Zoom
Event type

Asymmetric binaries provide a unique phenomenology within the family-tree of coalescing systems, which makes them golden targets for future gravitational wave interferometers. Assembled by a compact object orbiting around a more massive body, they can emit gravitational waves from the milliHz to the Hz regime, depending on the size of their components.