Grant: Canada Research Chairs
Saint Mary's University
$25,000.00
Tier II Chair in Astronomy
FY 2017-18
Summary
How do the billions of stars that form a galaxy come together to form the beautiful spiral structures that we see? Over the next decade observations from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission will provide exquisite new observations of stellar motions to help us understand the structure and motion of the Milky Way. At the same time, new simulation models of galactic evolution are necessary to interpret these data. The first part of this research program outlines an ambitious simulation program using parallel computers that will improve mass resolution by a factor of 1000 over typical models used today. This increase in resolution will provide an entirely new level of fidelity in numerical modelling and should contribute to a radical new understanding of the structure and evolution of the Milky Way. The second part of the research program will focus on the precise role of black holes in galaxy formation, and how the enormous energy release associated with the accretion of matter impacts the formation of galaxies. This is a problem that taxes both theoretical and numerical approaches.
Program
Canada Research Chairs
Recipient
Location
Nova Scotia, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
1000228176-2011
Name nom
Thacker, Robert
Department département
Department of Astronomy and Physics
Organization id
85
Institution établissement
Saint Mary's University
Province en
Nova Scotia
Province fr
Nouvelle-Écosse
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2017
Competition year année de concours
2011
Award amount
25000
Program id
CRC
Program name en
Canada Research Chairs
Program name fr
Chaires de recherche du Canada
Group en
Discovery grants programs
Group fr
Programmes de subventions à la découverte
Committee code
9998
Committee name en
Canada Research Chair Selection Committee
Committee name fr
Comité de sélection des Chaires de recherche du Canada
Area of application code
9999
Area of application group en
Not available
Area of application group fr
Non disponible
Area of application en
Not available
Area of application fr
Non disponible
Research subject code
3200
Research subject group en
Astronomy and astrophysics
Research subject group fr
Astronomie et astrophysique
Research subject en
Astronomy and astrophysics
Research subject fr
Astronomie et astrophysique
Partie
0
Application title
Tier II Chair in Astronomy
Keyword
CRC
Application summary
How do the billions of stars that form a galaxy come together to form the beautiful spiral structures that we see? Over the next decade observations from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission will provide exquisite new observations of stellar motions to help us understand the structure and motion of the Milky Way. At the same time, new simulation models of galactic evolution are necessary to interpret these data. The first part of this research program outlines an ambitious simulation program using parallel computers that will improve mass resolution by a factor of 1000 over typical models used today. This increase in resolution will provide an entirely new level of fidelity in numerical modelling and should contribute to a radical new understanding of the structure and evolution of the Milky Way. The second part of the research program will focus on the precise role of black holes in galaxy formation, and how the enormous energy release associated with the accretion of matter impacts the formation of galaxies. This is a problem that taxes both theoretical and numerical approaches.
