Objective Early on the Universe consisted of a near-uniform mixture of hydrogen, helium, dark matter and radiation. The emergence of structure from a stochastic background of fluctuations in theperiod between 400.000 years and 1 billion years is the main subject of this proposal. This era saw the formation of the first autonomous sources of radiation, stars and black holes. This `renaissance' of light led to the heating, reionization and pollution of the Intergalactic Medium with metals.We will unravel how the hydrogen in Universe progressed from substantially neutral to highly ionized by detailed comparison of cosmological hydro-simulations of the intergalactic Medium (IGM) and galaxy formation including continuum and resonant Lyman-alpha radiative transfer with QSO absorption spectra and LBG/ Lyman-alpha emitter surveys and other data.This will help us to make the most out the wealth of information which will be provided by new observational missions and surveys which have just begun (or are just about to begin) to report results (UKIDDS, VISTA, Planck, Herschel, COS@HST, LOFAR, ALMA). In this way we expect to make decisive contributions to the expected transformation of our understanding of this exciting period in the history of the Universe.Measurements of the matter power spectrum on scales from 1Mpc to a Gpc from Lyman-alpha forest, weak gravitational lensing, and galaxy survey data contain important information of the nature of dark matter and the mass and number of species of neutrinos. Particularly exciting is the possibility to significantly push the limit on 'how cold' dark matter is. To robustly answer the question, whether the free-streaming of dark matter suggested to solve the dwarf-galaxy problem of the cold dark matter paradigm is consistent with Lyman-alpha forest data, is another key goal of this proposal. Fields of science natural sciencesphysical sciencestheoretical physicsparticle physicsneutrinosnatural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyastrophysicsblack holesnatural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyastrophysicsdark matternatural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsspectroscopyabsorption spectroscopynatural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyphysical cosmologygalaxy evolution Programme(s) FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) ERC-AG-PE9 - ERC Advanced Grant - Universe sciences Call for proposal ERC-2012-ADG_20120216 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-AG - ERC Advanced Grant Host institution THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE EU contribution € 1 975 120,80 Address TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS CB2 1TN Cambridge United Kingdom See on map Region East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Renata Schaeffer (Ms.) Principal investigator Martin Gerhard Otto Haehnelt (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE United Kingdom EU contribution € 1 975 120,80 Address TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS CB2 1TN Cambridge See on map Region East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Renata Schaeffer (Ms.) Principal investigator Martin Gerhard Otto Haehnelt (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
