The ICCUB is offering 20 PhD projects within INPhINIT program of "la Caixa" Foundation. INPhINIT will select 57 young researchers of all nationalities for a three year program to complete a PhD in one of the centers that has received a distictive Severo Ochoa or Maria de Maeztu award.

Requirements for candidates:

• At the time of recruitment (start date of the contract with the Research Centre), candidates must be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and not yet have been awarded a doctoral degree.
• Candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the recruitment date. Short stays such as holidays will not be taken into account.

More information about requirements

The projects offered by ICCUB are:

• Active Galactic Nuclei in Merging Galaxies: A Theoretical Approach [+]
  

  Group Leader: Josep Maria Solanes Majúa

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/68

  Research Project Description

  Supermassive black holes (SMBH) have been detected in the centers of most nearby large galaxies. Galaxies today are not only the products of billions of years of hierarchical structure build up, but also billions of years of SMBH activity as active galactic nuclei (AGN) are thought to be the generic outcome of galaxy-galaxy mergers. In this context, detection of AGN pairs should be relatively common. Observationally, however, dual AGNs are scant, being just a few percent of all AGNs. In this PhD thesis, the candidate will investigate the triggering of AGN activity in merging galaxies via a suite of high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations. (S)He will follow the dynamics of the mergers and trace all processes related to star formation and the accretion of baryons onto the SMBHs, exploring AGN activity across a wide range of relevant conditions and testing when the two AGNs are simultaneously active and for how long, in an attempt to derive constraints for the dual AGN fraction detectable through imaging and spectroscopy.

  The thesis is part of a research project that we are about to start at the ICCUB in close collaboration with researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucia (IAA) and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence. This joint effort, has been recently awarded funding by the Spanish Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia over the period 2017-19. The ICCUB project aims using state-of-the-art computer simulations of galaxy interactions and mergers to capture much of the important physics of the processes involved on timescales affordable to study, thus providing a valid reference against which to compare observational data. In short, we are offering the opportunity to participate in a multidisciplinary endeavor that will allow students to acquire advanced academic training in diverse fields, from theoretical astrophysics to high-performance computing.

  Job Position Description

  The PhD candidate will have first to familiarise with the numerical tools and high-resolution collisionless simulations developed by our group, and then contribute to the implementation of the hydrodynamic modeling of the astrophysical dissipative processes related to the gas cooling, star formation, and feedback in galaxies that have a direct bearing on the feeding of their central SMBHs during a binary merger. (S)He will then perform and analyze a massive suite of numerical simulations of major galaxy mergers, focusing on the separations and timescales for dual AGN activity. On a latter stage, the candidate is also expected to contribute to the extension of the implementation of the evolutionary equations for baryons to forming galaxy groups, in which galaxies experience multiple collisions and mergers with other group companions, as well as strong interactions with the intragroup environment. The goal of this phase would be to build on the knowledge of the formation scenario of first-ranked objects in galaxy aggregations.

  In order to succeed in his/her task, the candidate will have to deal with numerical simulations that include a dark matter, a stellar, and a multi-phase gaseous component in a fully self-consistent manner, and with sufficient resolution to minimize two-body heating, angular momentum loses, and alterations of the radiative cooling efficiency. In this context, our group has regular access to massive parallel supercomputers and, in particular, unrestricted access to the computing infrastructures of the IAA and IAC, each one of these with hundreds of CPUs available. Thanks to this, the PhD student will have sufficient computing power guaranteed at all times to carry out the numerical simulations required by the thesis.

  The PhD candidate will be expected to carry part of his/her work at both the IAA and the IAC. We encourage individuals with good analytical/research skills and are interested in acquiring, a high degree of computer literacy to apply.

• Dark Matter Constraints [+]
  

  Group Leader: Licia Verde

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/99

  Research Project

  This project will investigate current and future constraints on dark matter (DM) models alternative to the cold dark matter scenario. Promising DM models include self-interacting DM (where the dark sector mirrors baryonic physics), decaying/annihilating DM (where DM is comprised by particles with a lifetime ~< than the current lifetime of the Universe), a string theory inspired model where the DM is made of axions with lifetime << than the lifetime of the Universe, decaying into particles of smaller mass in a series of steps until they decay into radiation), fuzzy dark matter, and the recently popular model in which primordial black holes of 10-50 solar masses make up the dark matter.

  During the doctorate, the student will study models available in literature and investigate theirs observational consequences.

  In particular, the effects of such models to the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and the galaxy power spectrum.

  Possible publications:

  1. Review models that passed observational tests in the last few years, and update constraints with the most current data available from BOSS+Planck;
  2. Investigate novel methodologies for constraining DM models, using combinations of surveys and newly developed techniques (e.g. Clustering-based redshift estimation for using radio continuum surveys in a tomographic way; using Intensity Mapping surveys);
  3. Forecast and prepare a pipeline for future experiments, including next generation CMB (Stage-IV), DESIEuclidSKA and dark ages 21cm intensity mapping surveys.
  4. The group is composed by faculty member Licia Verde, Raul Jimenez, postdocs Antonio Cuesta, Fergus Simpson, Alvise Raccanelli and graduate students Jose Luis Bernal, Nicola Bellomo.

  Job position description:

  This is a PhD project. It will involve research on the frontier of knowledge where scientific output in the form of peer-reviewed articles is the expected outcome. The student will learn advanced techniques to describe the clustering of large-scale structure and then will have to use these to discover how to connect it to the processes in nature that rule the universe, from pre-BigBang, inflation, modifications of gravity and dark energy. This is a mostly theoretical project that requires excellent knowledge of cosmology, advanced mathematics and theoretical physics at the master level. The student will learn advanced techniques in cosmology both numerical and analytical as well as statistical.

  Prerequisites: master degree in physics or equivalent, a cosmology course or astronomy, programming skills, text editor skills (latex).

  Expectations:

  • work effectively towards completion of the degree in a timely manner.
  • devote full time and effort towards completing degree requirements and the required work towards the PhD.
  • learn the existing theories, practices and research methods of the discipline and to apply these.
  • communicate regularly with faculty advisors providing updates on the student’s progress within the program and updates on results of research activities.
  • assume the highest integrity and maintain ethical standards in all aspects of the student’s work, especially in the tasks of collecting, analyzing, and presenting research data.
  • where applicable, to maintain detailed, organized and accurate records of the work done.
  • attend and participate in appropriate meetings, colloquia, seminars and group discussions that are part of the educational program, and the student should submit all relevant research results that are ready for publication in a timely manner.

• DESI survey [+]
  

  Group Leader: Licia Verde

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/99

  Research Project

  The group is part of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Survey (DESI). DESI will measure the effect of dark energy on the expansion of the universe. It will obtain optical spectra for tens of millions of galaxies and quasars, constructing a 3-dimensional map of the Universe up to z=3.

  DESI will study baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and the growth of structure through redshift-space distortions (RSD) with a wide-area galaxy and quasar redshift survey.

  DESI will be conducted on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory starting in 2018.

  The student will participate in the preparation for and cosmological interpretation and exploitation of the data.

  The group is composed by faculty members Licia Verde, Raul Jimenez, postdocs Antonio Cuesta, Fergus Simpson, Alvise Raccanelli and graduate students Jose Luis Bernal, Nicola Bellomo.

  Job position description

  This is a PhD project. It will involve research on the frontier of knowledge. Scientific output in the form of peer-reviewed articles is the expected outcome. At least three published articles are expected for the PhD degree to be awarded. The student will learn advanced techniques to describe the clustering of large scale structure and will have to use these to discover how to connect it to the theory. The student will learn advanced techniques in cosmology both numerical and analytical as well as statistical.

  Prerequisites: master degree in physics or equivalent, a cosmology course or astronomy, programming skills, text editor skills (latex).

  Expectations:

  • work effectively towards completion of the degree in a timely manner.
  • devote full time and effort towards completing degree requirements and the required work towards the PhD.
  • learn the existing theories, practices and research methods of the discipline and to apply them.
  • communicate regularly with faculty advisors providing updates on the student’s progress within the program and updates on results of research activities.
  • assume the highest integrity and maintain ethical standards in all aspects of the student’s work, especially in the tasks of collecting, analyzing, and presenting research data.
  • where applicable, to maintain detailed, organized and accurate records of the work done.
  • attend and participate in appropriate meetings, colloquia, seminars and group discussions that are part of the educational program, and the student should submit all relevant research results that are ready for publication in a timely manner.

• Detection Classification for Gaia [+]
  

  Group Leader: Javier Castañeda Pons

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/16

  Research Project Description

  Gaia is an astrometric space mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). The mission will measure the positions, motions and parallaxes of more than 1 billion stars of our Galaxy up to the 20th magnitude. The data produced during the mission will require more than a Petabyte. Just the first Gaia Data Release (GDR1) with less than a fifth of the final expected data included more than 40TB data and 60 billion observations. In addition, the latest estimations predict that Gaia data processing will require more than 1021 flops.

  Within the Gaia processing, the Intermediate Data Updating (IDU) is the most demanding system in data volume and processing power. IDU aims to provide an updated Cross-Match table between each observation and a source in the Gaia catalogue. Without this task all the Gaia processing would not work correctly.

  The Gaia on board detection software was build to detect point like sources and it is in principle capable of autonomously discriminating stars from false detections i.e. cosmic rays. However, during Gaia commissioning, several kinds of spurious detections and related issues were detected, unfortunately in much larger quantities than expected.

  The main problem with the spurious detections arises from the fact that each of them may lead to the creation of a new source in the Cross-Match. Therefore, the goal of the Detection Classifier (IDU-DC) task is to flag and remove these detections to avoid the creation of unnecessary new sources in the catalogue. In other words, IDU-DC results will prevent that spurious sources are created in the Cross-Match and consequently that spurious sources enter other calibration pipelines from other downstream processes and finally in the catalogues published to the global scientific community. In this context the IDU-DC task, is crucial as it must detect all the spurious observations.

  The fellow would work within the Gaia group, which is part of the ICCUB-IEEC institute. Specifically, in the IDU-DC task.

  Job Position Description

  List of desirable skills for the candidates:

  1. Java/Python/C++/R: All the data processing software in DPAC is written in Java. A good understanding of Object Oriented programming languages is therefore critical.
  2. Applied Math and Algorithms: The candidate should have a solid understanding of algorithm theory. Previous experience with relevant algorithms such as k-means, etc. will be beneficial.
  3. Probability and Statistics: A firm understanding of Probability and Statistics is expected. The candidate should be able to use statistics as a model evaluation metric: confusion matrices, receiver-operator curves, p-values, etc.
  4. Expertise in Unix: The candidate should have good experience with all of the most common Unix tools such as: cat, grep, etc.
  5. Advanced Signal Processing techniques: Feature extraction is one of the most important parts of machine-learning. The candidate is expected to know advanced signal processing algorithms such as wavelets, etc.
  6. Distributed Computing: The candidate should have a good understanding of the computational costs of different algorithms and how these can be distributed efficiently.
  7. Code optimization: Due to the large volumes of data and records the code should run efficiently. Data access, equalization and distribution is also an issue which must be tackled by the candidate.
  8. Other valuable skills:
     • All the project documentation is written in LaTeX. Therefore, previous knowledge is desirable.
     • DPAC uses Apache Subversion (SVN) as the working repository. Prior experience will be a valuable asset for the candidate.

  Roles and responsibilities of the candidate:

  1. The candidate will be responsible for the development of the IDU-DC system within DPAC.
  2. The DC algorithm development, documentation, implementation, testing and integration.
  3. The candidate will be responsible to write the corresponding papers in A&A and other relevant journals detailing to the scientific community how the IDU-DC works.

• Determination of stellar astrophysical parameters using J-PLUS photometry [+]
  

  Group Leader: Josep Manel Carrasco Martínez

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/153

  Research Project Description

  The Gaia group at the Institute of Cosmic Sciences (ICCUB) has been working in the space sector since the satellite Hipparcos (1989-1993). Gaia's main goal is to make the largest, most precise 3D map of our Galaxy by surveying a billion stars with an unprecedented precision in position (of the order of microarcsecond) and motion. The age and composition of these stars will also be obtained thanks to photometric measurements. Gaia will be able to clarify the structure, formation and evolution of our Galaxy, and will impact every field of astrophysics (including stellar evolution, dark matter and general relativity). Nowadays, our team is leading the development of the Gaia Archive, the initial processing and the photometric data treatment. Our team consists of around 30 scientists and engineers, ranging from software development and data management to monitoring and scientific validation. Our group received the prize “Ciutat de Barcelona 2013.” Since the inception of the Gaia mission, we have contributed in the concept and design. In particular, our set of proposed photometric filters was finally accepted as the baseline for the Gaia photometric instrument in 2005. Some of these photometric passbands proposed for Gaia have been recently added to the Javalambre Observatory in Teruel for their J-PAS/J-PLUS projects.

  The Javalambre-Photometric Local Universe Survey, J-PLUS, is a photometric sky survey of 8500 deg2 visible from Javalambre Observatory, using a set of 12 broad, intermediate and narrow band filters. The filter set was specifically aimed at the characterization of stars in our Galaxy. J-PLUS will create a unique catalogue of stars (to an unprecedented combination of depth and survey area), being able to fit the spectra of all the stars observed with their physical parameters (effective temperature, gravity and metallicity). Photometry with J-PLUS and kinematics and parallaxes from Gaia will allow the study of the structure of the galactic thick disk and halo.

  Job Position Description

  Role and responsibilities:

  The role of the candidate is to exploit the knowledge of the team in the photometric passbands proposed for Gaia and currently installed in J-PLUS survey to derive the astrophysical parameters of the observed stars. This task will imply establishing a collaboration with Javalambre Observatory to retrieve observed photometry and becoming familiar with the instrumentation installed in J-PLUS to understand the behaviour of the data. Once the instrumental effects are removed from the observations, the cleaned data needs to be scientifically analysed and methods to classify and parameterise the stars in the sample (deriving their temperatures, gravities, metallicities, alpha abundances if possible, interstellar absorption, …) have to be established. The candidate will also be in charge of documenting all the work done and submitting publications to astronomical refereed magazines (like Astronomy & Astrophysics and similar) and presenting the results at some conferences and meetings.

  Desired skills of the candidate:

  A candidate with a degree in astronomy and physics is desired. Knowledge of telescopes and CCD instrumentation, stellar physics and galaxies is also appreciated. The work will be done using Linux environment. Existing stellar parameterisation prototypes in the team are currently coded in Fortran. For the analysis of the J-PLUS images the candidate will have to use reduction pipelines in IRAF, Sextractor and AstroPy (Python). The project documentation will be written in LaTeX. To establish the methodology, deriving a parameterisation algorithm from photometry skills in statistical methods, chi-squared minimisation, bayesian methods and/or neural networks would be appreciated.

• Fast electronics for medical imaging and particle detection [+]
  

  Group Leader: David Gascón Fora

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/30

  Research Project

  The experimental particle physics (EHEP) research team in the Universitat de Barcelona has contributed to heavy flavour experiments during the last 15 years. During this time, it has participated in the HERA-B experiment at DESY (Hamburg, Germany), the BaBar experiment at SLAC (Stanford, EE. UU.) and, currently, the team is member of the LHCb collaboration at CERN (Geneva, Switzerland). Besides its contributions to the physics program of these experiments, the group has developed a significant expertise in the design, manufacturing and operation of custom electronics and microelectronics for the readout of photo-detectors. The technology developed for those research projects is at the forefront of today’s available solutions.

  It is important to remark, the creation in 2013 of the SiUB (http://siub.ub.edu) instrumentation service in the Physics Faculty of the University of Barcelona (UB), for which Dr. David Gascón is the technical director. The mission of this instrumentation service is to transfer technology developed through the research projects to the society.

  The technology developed for the particle physics experiments has been proved to be disruptive for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in the medical imaging field. Current PET technology is based on scintillating crystals. However, there is an intrinsic limit in the time resolution that can be achieved by scintillation in crystals. Several R&D projects are studying prompt light emission mechanisms to overcome this limitation, among them we have identified two promising options: Cherenkov light emission in crystals and fast scintillation (2.2 ns decay time) and Cherenkov emission in Liquid Xenon. New advances are required in photo-detector and electronics in order to exploit prompt light emission, aiming for an overall Single Photon Time Resolution (SPTR) in the order of few tens of pico-seconds (ps) and enhanced UV sensitivity.

  Job position description:

  The candidate will join the group as a fellow researcher in the Integrated Circuit (IC) design field. This position will focus on developing a module based on analogue light sensors. Sensors, front-end electronics, digitization and signal processing will be developed to produce a scalable module to overcome the limitations of the current PET technology. The module will be also applied to future high luminosity colliders, where ps time resolution is required for time tagging of particle interactions.

  She/he will participate in all phases of IC design flow (design, simulation, layout and verification) and characterization of the modules in lab test benches, particle detectors and hospitals. The candidate will work in a multidisciplinary environment involving also scientists and international researchers. In particular, the candidate will work in the framework of a collaboration established between CERN and ICCUB to develop a new generation of ultra-fast systems based on a 65 nm CMOS technology. New vertical 3D integration technologies will be also studied. The ultimate goal would be to develop a digital silicon photomultiplier based on Single Photon Avalanche Detectors with a SPTR as good as 30 ps.

  The requisites of the candidate are knowledge and experience in:

  • Engineering degree or similar (preferably Electronics Engineer)
  • IC design (schematic, simulation, layout and verification)
  • Temporal stays at CERN will be required to interact with other engineers participating in this project

  If would also be desirable to have knowledge in:

  IC testing, PCB design and layout and SW developmentData analysis for IC verification and characterizationMedical imagingRadiation detectors

• Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs): a theoretical and observational approach [+]
  

  Group Leader: Josep M. Paredes

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/50

  Research Project

  FRBs are transient events of ms-duration whose nature and origin remain a mystery. Propagation through the intergalactic medium causes large time dispersion measurements, implying an extragalactic origin. The extremely short durations and the brightness temperatures associated suggest a coherent origin of the radiation. 17 bursts have been reported up to now and only one case is known to repeat suggesting different types of FRBs. Several models have been proposed to explain these events, based on the interactions of relativistic outflows with small perturbations (Romero et al. 2016) or invoking catastrophic events with massive reconnection events (Falcke & Rezzolla 2014; Liu et al. 2016).

  In this PhD project, the candidate will develop these models and apply them to different scenarios such as: 1) Relativistic blobs ejected in the merger of a neutron star binary or magnetized black hole binaries; 2) Minijets in AGNs or blazars produced by dissipation of magnetic energy in a larger jet. The expected results of this study, such as the existence of possible counterparts at different wavelengths, can be put to the test through observations carried out by the hosting group (who has expertise in multiwavelength observations), giving to the candidate a unique opportunity to encompass in a single project all major steps of a scientific research from the theoretical development of a predictive model to prediction testing through the latest observational capabilities.

  The group is composed of 15 researchers that combine observations and theory to understand the physics of astrophysical outflows at different scales, from stellar-mass systems to super massive BHs. The work on FRBs is focused on developing theoretical models (led by Prof. Romero, Univ. La Plata) and carrying out very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations to determine their exact location, and optical and VHE observations with MAGIC to explore the possible afterglow (led by Prof. Paredes, UB).

  Job position description:

  The candidate must have background knowledge in relativistic astrophysics and, preferably, also in plasma physics. The job will require both analytical and numerical calculations of radiative processes in extreme physical conditions. Knowledge of general relativity is also desirable since the context of some potential sources involves gravitational radiation. The successful candidate is expected to strongly interact with the rest of the group through discussions, participation in seminars, and collaborations. Availability for traveling for periods of several weeks is indispensable, since strong interaction with the group led by Prof. Romero in Argentina is expected.

  The duties of the job will include taking formal courses to complete the candidate’s academic formation in related subjects. The work offered will imply to fulfill all formal requirements for getting the PhD degree from the University of Barcelona, including writing the PhD Thesis within the period of the position.

• FPGA development for high speed cost-effective space applications [+]
  

  Group Leader: Joan Mauricio Ferré

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/326

  Research Project

  The Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICC) is a research institute at Universitat de Barcelona. Last year the institute was granted the MINECO’s excellence María de Maeztu award. The ICCUB is one of a handful institutes in the World fully dedicated to cosmology physics and high energy physics at the same level. Created on 2006, the ICCUB pays special attention to the synergies arising from a variety of connected scientific areas of astrophysics, nuclear and particle physics, gravitation, space science and other fields of mathematics, electronics and instrumentation. The ICCUB has a key role in various projects of ESA and CERN, noting GAIA, Solar Orbiter or LHCb. In addition to leading key tasks of scientific exploitation, the institute has participated in the development of instrumentation for this type of projects. Therefore, the ICCUB has a long experience in the development of reading and processing front-end electronics for space and for other environments where radiation hardness is required. Such electronics include the design of mixed application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), real-time processing (FPGA, DSP, microprocessor) and acquisition, control and power electronics.

  Taking advantage of the knowledge gained in the space missions, ICCUB is helping develop a nanosatellite. Nanosatellites are cost effective solution for pollution measurement, smart-city information gathering, biosphere study, agriculture… The engineering group is focused on building a software framework for FPGAs that provides a base set of capabilities, while maintaining a reduced cost and footprint. One line of research is to minimize the effects of space radiation of FPGAs to reduce the cost of the processing unit, instead of using expensive radiation hardened commercial FPGAs available. The second line of research is how to process data in real time at the nanosatellite so the amount of data required to be sent down to earth is reduced.

  Job position description:

  The candidate will work on implementation of real-time systems for on board processing in space missions and for scientific instrumentation. Particularly back-end (data acquisition) and control systems for complex scientific instrumentation (space missions, particle detectors, etc) and related industrial applications. She/he will participate in all phases of FPGA design Flow (Synthesis, Place & Route, and Timing Closure). She/he will work in bringing-up and validate FPGAs and cards in the lab. He/she will develop real time processing in dedicated HW (ARM, GPU, DSP, etc). The candidate will work with the data and electronics engineering services of the ICCUB in a multidisciplinary environment involving also ICCUB scientists and international researchers. Those teams have developed instrumentation for space missions, astronomic observatories and particle detectors in high energy physics colliders.

  The requisites of the candidate are knowledge and experience in:

  • Engineering degree or similar (preferably Electronics Engineer) with good knowledge on FPGAs and real time processors.
  • Implementation and verification of complex products that use FPGAs, ASICs and other real time processor (ARM, GPU, DSP, etc).
  • Micro architecture and design partition within the ASIC/FPGA.
  • Implementation of design blocks using Verilog / System Verilog.
  • Knowledge of HW/SW co-design
  • Temporal stays at CERN will be required to interact with other engineers.

• Fundamental Physics from the Non-Gaussian Sky [+]
  

  Group Leader: Raul Jimenez

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/98

  Research Project Description

  Cosmology offers a unique window into the laws of nature. The whole evolution of the Universe spans the energy range from the Planck mass down to sub-eV physics. Imprints of the very high energy events in the Universe (at the Planck scale) are encoded in the statistical distribution of large-scale structure. By extracting this information one can learn about the fundamental laws of physics at energy scales that will never be reached in accelerators on Earth. We can then learn about how the quantum and gravity world interact with each other. However, extracting this information is not easy and this project aims at building the tools to extract information about the fundamental laws of nature by exploiting the non-Gaussian nature of the observed sky. Our group has developed a principled approach to deal with non-Gaussianity in Cosmology and the goal of this PhD project is to further develop the approach to the point that it can be successfully applied to data.

  The group is composed by faculty member Licia Verde, Raul Jimenez, postdocs Antonio Cuesta, Fergus Simpson, Alvise Raccanelli and graduate students Jose Luis Bernal, Nicola Bellomo.

  Job Position Description

  This is a PhD project. It will involve research on the frontier of knowledge where scientific output in the form of peer-reviewed articles is the expected outcome. At least three published articles are expected for the PhD degree to be awarded. The student will learn advanced techniques to describe the clustering of large-scale structure and then will have to use these to discover how to connect it to the processes in nature that rule the universe, from pre-BigBang, inflation, modifications of gravity and dark energy. This is a mostly theoretical project that requires excellent knowledge of cosmology, advanced mathematics and theoretical physics at the master level. The student will learn advanced techniques in cosmology both numerical and analytical as well as statistical.

  Prerequisites: master degree in physics or equivalent, a cosmology course or astronomy, programming skills, text editor skills (latex).

  Expectations:

  • work effectively towards completion of the degree in a timely manner.
  • devote full time and effort towards completing degree requirements and the required work towards the PhD.
  • learn the existing theories, practices and research methods of the discipline and to apply these
  • communicate regularly with faculty advisors providing updates on the student’s progress within the program and updates on results of research activities.
  • assume the highest integrity and maintain ethical standards in all aspects of the student’s work, especially in the tasks of collecting, analyzing, and presenting research data.
  • where applicable, to maintain detailed, organized and accurate records of the work done.
  • attend and participate in appropriate meetings, colloquia, seminars and group discussions that are part of the educational program, and the student should submit all relevant research results that are ready for publication in a timely manner.

• Gaia Alerts follow-up from Montsec Observatory [+]
  

  Group Leader: Josep Manel Carrasco Martínez

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/153

  Research Project Description

  The Gaia group at the Institute of Cosmic Sciences (ICCUB) works in the space sector since the satellite Hipparcos (1989-1993). Gaia main goal is to make the largest, most precise 3D map of our Galaxy by surveying a billion stars with an unprecedented precision in position (of the order of microarcsecond) and motion. Their age and composition will also be obtained thanks to photometric measurements. Gaia will be able to clarify the structure, formation and evolution of our Galaxy, and will impact on every field of astrophysics (including stellar evolution, dark matter and general relativity). Our group has contributed since its inception in the concept of the Gaia mission and its design. In particular, our set of proposed photometric passbands was finally accepted as baseline for the mission in 2005. Some of these photometric passbands proposed for Gaia have been recently added also to the Javalambre Observatory in Teruel for their J-PAS/J-PLUS projects. Nowadays, our team is leading the development of the Gaia Archive, the initial processing and the photometric data treatment. Our team consists of around 30 scientists and engineers, ranging from software development to data management, as its monitoring and scientific validation. The group received the prize “Ciutat de Barcelona 2013”.

  Gaia was launched in 2013 by the European Space Agency. Since then, a monitoring of the brightness of all sources in the sky is being driven. When some of these sources suddenly increase its brightness, an alert is triggered to the astronomical community to follow-up the evolution of this object. The first alert was issued in August 2014. Our team is also contributing to this Gaia Alerts follow-up programme using Joan Oró Telescope at Montsec Observatory (Sant Esteve de la Sarga, Lleida). With this programme we have been observing several supernovae explosions, variable stars and peculiar microlensing events in collaboration with several international teams.

  Jop Position Description

  The role of the candidate is to continue with the Gaia Alerts follow-up programme from Montsec Observatory, trying to go deeper into the study of some specific type of objects (microlensing events, supernovae, variable stars, …) observed with our telescope. Possible submission of observational proposals to other instruments to complement the photometric measurements from Joan Oró Telescope to fully understand the behaviour and nature of the alert can also be needed. A preliminary work reading bibliography to better understand the current status in the field and selection of the most interesting niches accessible with our data need to be done by the candidate. The definition of a fully automatic procedure to retrieve the list of published alerts, programming the observations for every night, reducing the observations (cleaning them from instrumental effects), and uploading the resulting measurements into the Cambridge Gaia Alerts interface to be shared with all the community is desired to be established. Collaboration with other teams is needed and the candidate will be in charge of establishing a closer relationship with them, specially those interested in the type of alerts accessible from Montsec Observatory. The candidate will also be in charge of documenting all the work done and submit publications to astronomical refereed magazines (like Astronomy & Astrophysics and similar) and immediate Astronomical Telegram's reporting interesting discoveries with the shortest possible delay. Presentation of the results to some conferences and meetings is foreseen.

  A candidate with formation in astronomy and physics is desired. Knowledge in telescopes and CCD instrumentation, stellar evolution and microlensing events is also appreciated. The work will be done using Linux environment. For the analysis of the Joan Oró images the candidate have to use reduction pipelines in IRAF, Sextractor and AstroPy (Python). The project documentation will be written in LaTeX.

• Gaia Detection of Ultra Faint Dwarf Galaxies in the halo as probes for cosmological models[+]
  

  Group Leader: Francesca Figueras

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/26

  Research Project

  Our Galaxy, the Milky Way, is our place in the Universe and our natural cosmological laboratory. Here we propose to exploit the Gaia data (ESA, 2016-2020) to study a key astrophysical process that drive the evolution of our Galaxy and of galaxies in general, that is the assemblage of the halo. Several galaxies with very low luminosity and surface brightness, dominated by dark matter, called “Ultra Faint Dwarf Galaxies” (UFDGs), have been found during last decade in the halo of the Milky Way. Its detection is extremely relevant for the so-called “missing satellite problem”, the dramatic discrepancy between the observed number of galaxy satellites and the large number predicted by the state-of-the-art cosmological Λ Cold Dark Matter (CDM) simulations. Up to now, its detection is limited to searches of over-densities in the sky in photometric surveys and to the specific sky areas covered. The Gaia catalogue has full sky coverage and, for the first time, extremely accurate stellar kinematics that can be added to the search algorithms. With this project we aim to obtain a new and unbiased census of UFDGs in the Milky Way halo to assess on solid grounds the discrepancy between the observations and predictions.

  To detect UFDGs, the candidate will start by using the algorithms designed by us (see Antoja et al., 2015). For the first time, the Wavelet Transforms is used to identify significant peaks in the combined space of sky positions and proper motions. She/he will use a tessellation method at CSUC and Mare Nostrum to run the algorithm using the 2nd Gaia Data Release (Q4-2017). Based on the list of new UFDGs found, we expect to assess the consequences for the missing satellite problem early in 2018. In a second step, new algorithms will be developed and applied both to real Gaia data and to high-resolution hydrodynamic N-body simulations of MW-like type galaxies (Eagle, Garrotxa, ..)

  Job position description:

  We will provide to the candidate the skills needed to deal with the scientific exploitation of Gaia. She/he will be a member of the Gaia GREAT European network, in close connection with the Gaia Challenge WG. That will provide to the candidate training in a number of key areas, focused on exploiting advanced database technologies to better facilitate the analysis and interpretation of Gaia's immense datasets.

  List of desirable skill sets for the candidates:

  1. Basic concepts on Astrometry from Space, Galactic Astronomy and Cosmology
  2. Probability and Statistics: multivariate data Analysis and advanced signal processing
  3. Programming languages (Python, C++ and R) and LaTex editor. Unix as computer operating system. Big data, distributed Computing and code optimization

  The candidate will benefit from all the regular Astrophysics, Cosmology and Data Mining training courses at the ICCUB. Also from specific courses on scientific communication and outreach. She/he will be responsible to write the corresponding papers in referred papers (ApJ, MNRAS,…). The research experience and transferable skills gained will prepare the applicant not only for academy but also, if desired, for a research employment in other fields and even sectors. The applicant will strongly develop problem solving abilities, technical skills on big data, for sure useful in a broader employment market of the current times (e.g. working as a data scientist).

• Galaxy dynamics with axion dark matter [+]
  

  Group Leader: Jordi Miralda-Escudé

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/95

  Research Project

  The proposed research focuses on investigating the nature of the dark matter, which comprises about 84% of all the matter in our Universe according to the most recent measurements from the Cosmic Background Radiation fluctuations. Two approaches are proposed: in the first, the consequences of the presence of axions with a mass of the order of ~10^(-23) eV as a component of the dark matter will be studied. Axions of this mass should behave as quantum systems on galactic scales, and would exhibit phenomena that are familiar in atomic physics but on the scale of a galaxy. Specifically, the research may focus on the impact on dynamical relaxation of dark matter in galaxies if all or part of the dark matter is axions of this very low mass. Predictions from this model can be confronted with observations of stellar dynamics in dwarf galaxies, which are the ones most affected by the quantum effects of axion dark matter (see, e.g., the review by D. Marsh 2015).

  A second approach would be to study various alternative observational techniques through which the nature of the dark matter can be probed. Some examples are the Lyman alpha forest, or absorption by neutral hydrogen in the intergalactic medium at high redshift, which can probe the power spectrum of fluctuations in the gas and is sensitive to the nature of the dark matter (e.g. Viel et al. 2006; Arinyo-i-Prats et al. 2015); and the study of orbital dynamics in the Milky Way and its dwarf galaxy companions with new data from GAIA and other observational data sets of fainter stars in dwarfs.

  Job position description:

  The fellow joining this research program would collaborate in all aspects of the research, and would be trained in the required techniques for numerical calculations, cosmological simulation analysis, or observational data analysis that are required. The proposed topic of the nature of the dark matter is fairly broad and the fellow would have freedom to develop the project in the direction that is most promising and appealing. Required skills are a strong background in fundamental physics and mathematics for numerical analysis.

• Open Clusters Studies in the Gaia era [+]
  

  Group Leader: Carme Jordi

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/38

  Research Project Description

  The Gaia group at the Institute of Cosmic Sciences (ICCUB) is involved in the Gaia space mission since its conceptual and design phases. The team consists of around 30 people (scientists and engineers) ranging from software development to data management, as its monitoring and scientific validation. The group was awarded the “prize “Ciutat de Barcelona 2013”.

  Gaia is a satellite by the European Space Agency, which main goal is to make the largest, most precise 3D map of our Galaxy by surveying a billion stars with an unprecedented precision (of the order of microarcsecond). This will allow the studying of the formation and posterior evolution of the Galaxy, the mapping of the dark matter, the comprehension of the stellar evolution, and so on. It is very well recognized that Gaia will impact all fields of astrophysics in the next decades.

  Gaia Data Release 1, published on Sep 2016, contains results based on observations of the first 14 months of the operational phase. The mission will be operational for 5 years and due to the complexity of the data processing, the delivery of the data is foreseen in different stages. The second release, scheduled for 2017, will provide positions and motions for the billion stars.

  Open clusters (OCs) are crucial for the understanding the Galactic disc (where the stars born) because, while field stars suffer from many perturbations in their orbits due to the Galactic potential and migrate radially, OCs keep more stable orbits and are better tracers of the chemical enrichment. However, the lack of a large number of OCs analyzed homogeneously hampers the investigations about chemical patterns and Galactocentric radial and vertical gradients, or an age-metallicity relation.

  The project here aims to enlarge the sample of known OCs, the determination of their ages, total masses and Galactic positions (all from Gaia data) and their chemical abundances (from spectroscopic surveys like Gaia-ESO, OCCASO, and future WEAVE).

  Job Position Description

  The person will join the Gaia group for the scientific exploitation of the Gaia data (mainly releases 1 & 2) in what concerns OCs studies and their impact on the understanding of star formation history in the Galactic disc and so on the formation of the Galaxy as a whole.

  The main responsibilities are:

  1. Develop statistical algorithms of data mining and machine learning to identify up-to-now unknown OCs, by identifying groups of common positions in the sky, common proper motions and common parallaxes based on Gaia data.
  2. Apply stellar evolution theories to derive ages, and masses from the OCs member stars using the Gaia photometric data for a sample of OCs selected on the basis of their height above the Galactic plane, their Galactocentric position and their age
  3. Characterize the abundances of several chemical species from ground based acquired data (this is thanks to the Gaia team access to Gaia-ESO, OCCASO and future WEAVE high-resolution spectroscopic surveys), using synthesis and equivalent width methods already available to the team (iSpec & GALA)
  4. Determine the orbits of OCs joining kinematic information from Gaia and from spectroscopic observations, and check the stability of the orbits based on their properties and the mass of the cluster to deduce the possible radial migration
  5. Derive trends or gradients of abundances for every specie as a function of height above the Galactic plane, Galactocentric position and age
  6. Compare results with predictions from chemo-dynamical models of the Galactic disc evolution, in collaboration with the several groups with which the Gaia team has well established links and that are experts of this topic (Obs of Bologna, Inst. Astrophys. Canary, Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam, etc)
  7. Write the corresponding papers in referred journals.

  The desired skills for the candidate are:

  1. Master in “Astrophysics, Particle Physics and Cosmology” of ICCUB or equivalent
  2. Understanding of Probability and Statistics
  3. Expertise in software

• Primordial Black Holes from Inflation [+]
  

  Group Leader: Jaume Garriga

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/29

  Research Project Description

  Inflation is the leading paradigm for explaining the observed homogeneity and isotropy of the universe, as well as the origin of the primordial perturbations which seeded structure formation. Current observations are in excellent agreement with inflationary predictions, but it would be very interesting to have additional evidence for this early phase of accelerated expansion.

  The energy scale of inflation has not yet been determined from data. If it is a high energy scale, then we might be able to probe it through the observation of CMB polarization. But if the scale of inflation is well below the GUT scale, then this would not be possible.

  The current project aims to explore a possible alternative probe of the scale of inflation which may be relevant for a wide class of models. Such models predict the production of primordial black holes, which might then have interesting observable effects on astrophysically relevant scales. For instance, in theories with a broken discrete symmetry, Hubble sized spherical domain walls may spontaneously nucleate during inflation. These objects are subsequently stretched by the inflationary expansion, resulting in a broad distribution of sizes. After inflation, such walls collapse to form black holes with a broad distribution of masses. Interestingly, the mass density distribution is peaked at a mass which is of order M sim M_P^4 H_i^{-3}, where M_P is the Planck mass and H_I is the expansion rate during inflation. Such peak mass ranges from 10^{10} g to 10^{15} solar masses, with the highest mass value corresponding to the lowest values of the scale of inflation. Depending on their abundance, such primordial black holes might significantly contribute to the dark matter density. Also, depending on the scale of inflation, they might be big enough to seed the supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies. Finally, they would lead to the formation of black hole binaries which might be observable by LIGO and upcoming probes of gravitational waves. The quantitative assessment of such possibilities will be the subject of the present project.

  Job Position Description

  The candidate will use the tools of General Relativity in order to study the dynamics of black hole formation, from inflationary relics such as domain walls or false vacuum bubbles. From the resulting mass distribution the candidate will study the prospects for observational detection. This will involve a detailed consideration of existing constraints on the model parameters (such as for instance, those concerned with CMB distortions), as well as accurate predictions for the expected event rates for binary coalescence, enabling a comparison with upcoming observations. A promising probe for this scenario might be the rate of events as a function of the binary mass ratio, since the latter is likely to be hierarchical and directly related to the black hole abundance relative to dark matter.

• Radiation in strongly coupled gauge theories [+]
  

  Group Leader: Bartomeu Fiol

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/135

  Research Project Description

  Radiation of electromagnetic waves by charged particles is one of the cornerstones of electromagnetism, with deep conceptual implications and countless, everyday, practical applications. Nevertheless, radiation is not a phenomenon exclusive of electromagnetism. For instance, as the recent detection of gravitational waves by LIGO has spectacularly confirmed, massive objects can radiate gravitationally, and this phenomenon opens up a new window to explore the Universe. Given these precedents, it is natural to try to understand better the properties of radiation of massless quanta in the other fundamental forces of Nature, and more generally in gauge theories.

  The main goal of this research project is to improve the understanding of the properties of radiation in generic gauge theories by charged particles, both in accelerated motion in vacuum, and traversing media at finite temperature and/or finite density.

  Besides the intrinsic interest of the question addressed in the project, there are a number of expected applications of the potential results. Chiefly, energy loss and momentum difussion by heavy probes traversing a medium are important diagnostics to characterize it, so this project can find applications in a better modelization of various corners of the QCD phase diagram (e.g. the quark gluon plasma observed at RHIC@Brookhaven and LHC@CERN).

  This project is to be carried out under the guidance of Bartomeu Fiol, a member of the Gravitation and Cosmology group at the Institute for Cosmos Sciences, at the University of Barcelona. Within this group, this project has overlap with the research interests of David Mateos and Jorge Russo. In recent years, this line of research has resulted in collaborations with researchers at the Weizmann Institute (Israel), UNAM (Mexico) and the University of Texas (USA).

  This line of research has resulted in two PhD thesis, eight published articles in high impact journals, and invited talks at international workshops.

  Job position description:

  The student is expected to carry out original research along the lines presented in the research project. The project outlined has a dominant formal component, so the successful candidate ought to have a solid background in Quantum Field Theory, and strong analytical skills.

  This research project aims to put to work fairly recent developments in the analytic understanding of Quantum Field Theories. In particular, the student will have to become familiar with the gauge/gravity correspondence, and with supersymmetric localization.

  Some of the specific objectives that the student is expected to pursue are the following:

  1. a precise understanding of the angular distribution of radiated energy in strongly coupled gauge theories. While the total, integrated, energy radiated is now under analytic control for a particular class of gauge theories, the same is not true for the angular distribution.
  2. better analytic control of the cusp anomalous dimension of generic gauge theories. The cusp anomalous dimension is one of the key quantities that appears in many observables in gauge theories. Its exact determination appears to be out of reach with currently known techniques, but recent developments allow for its determination in particular limits.
  3. a better understanding, and an eventual extension, of the recently uncovered relation between the meson spectrum and the radiation properties of certain gauge theories.

• Radiative magnetohydrodynamics in powerful astrophysical outflows[+]
  

  Group Leader: Valentí Bosch-Ramon

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/178

  Research Project

  The understanding of the astrophysical sources producing ultra-relativistic particles and energetic radiation requires the characterization of the underlying physics, which typically involve complex magnetized fluid dynamics, particle acceleration, and leptonic and hadronic radiation processes. This characterization has traditionally relied on models based on strong simplifying assumptions on the emitting region. The great improvement in observational instrumentation during the last decades has slowly pushed the field towards more complex theoretical models, and now it is time to work on fluid dynamics accounting for the production of ultra-relativistic particles and their radiation.

  The project is focused on: (i) the development of extensions of existing relativistic magnetohydrodynamical codes to include the presence of very energetic particles and their emission; (ii) application of these tools to powerful galactic and extragalactic sources that feature interaction structures (binary systems, active galactic nucleus jets, etc.) that are expected to strongly radiate gamma rays and lower energy emission; (iii) to compare the accurate computational results with observations of these sources.

  The research group is mostly oriented towards the theoretical modeling of very energetic sources in the Universe. The group leader, Dr. Valentí Bosch-Ramon, has been working for many years on galactic and extragalactic sources, and has a long experience and robust knowledge on the different techniques applied to model these objects, and interpreting related observations. In addition, the research group is embedded in a worldly recognized group led by Prof. Josep M. Paredes, with decades of experience in multi-wavelength observations from radio to gamma rays. It is thus the perfect context to plan observations to provide the theoretical research with observational feedback. Finally, the research will be carried out within a powerful net of experts from all over the world.

  Job position description:

  The job position requires some modest experience with structured programming. At least basic understanding of special relativity and fluid dynamics is important. A working knowledge of English is also needed. It is also important to be open to attend conferences and carry out research stays abroad. Finally, what is mostly needed is motivation for solving interesting, complex but surmountable, physical problems, to work hard, and to learn team work as well as analytical and synthesis skills.

  There is an important multi-disciplinary element in the job position, as it links basic physics disciplines with applied astrophysics and astronomy, i.e fluid dynamics in extreme conditions, modeling of radiation from astrophysical sources, and interpretation of observations and planning for prediction testing.

  The doctorate schedule may be organized as follows:

  1. The doctoral fellow will develop extensions of powerful codes for relativistic magnetohydrodynamics. These extensions will take into account the generation, transport and energy evolution of ultra-relativistic particles in the simulated flow. This tool will permit sound and consistent modeling of powerful and complex sources, not well understood yet. In parallel, the fellow will become familiar with relativistic hydrodynamics, and non-thermal processes. This task would last for the first year.
  2. The fellow will apply the developed tools to hot topics in high-energy astrophysics, like gamma-ray production in galactic systems and in extragalactic jets. In parallel, the fellow will become familiar with the observations carried out to study these sources in the whole electromagnetic spectrum. This task would start towards the end of the first year.
  3. The fellow may take part in observational campaigns to observe the modeled sources, and participate in the proposal stage as well as in the interpretation of the results. This activity could take place during the second half of the doctoral period.

• Search for physics beyond the Standard Model in the LHCb experiment [+]
  

  Group Leader: Eugeni Graugés Pous

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/35

  Research Project

  The experimental particle physics team in the ICCUB has contributed to heavy flavor experiments during the last 20 years. During this time, it has participated in the HERA-B experiment at DESY (Hamburg), the BaBar experiment at SLAC (Stanford) and, currently, the team is member of the LHCb collaboration at CERN (Geneva). Besides its contributions to the physics program of these experiments, the group has developed a significant expertise in the design, manufacturing and operation of custom electronics for the readout of photo-detectors.

  A series of research grants, awarded mainly by the Spanish government in the calls from 1999-2014, funded the ICCUB participation in the LHCb experiment since the approval of the Technical Proposal by the LHCC (1998).

  Concerning the responsibilities in the construction, installation and operation of the LHCb apparatus, the ICCUB contributions were focused in the Scintillator Pad Detector electronics of the calorimeter system. Work was performed in the design of the electronics and the integration in the general Experiment Control System (ECS). Maintenance tasks include the regular checks of detector setting parameters, replacement of aged electronic parts and improvement of the ECS software.

  The ICCUB group has been involved in LHCb experiment physics analysis of radiative b-hadron decays where the signature is a photon in the final state. In this analysis, the ICCUB group is exploiting its expertise in the photon reconstruction carried out by the Calorimeter system in LHCb. As a result of all of the above participation, a total of 13 PhD thesis have been defended in the University of Barcelona since 2003.

  LHCB responsibilities taken by ICCUB members have included: Computing Resource Manager (R. Graciani), Spain’s National Contact Person (E. Graugés, L. Garrido), Head of the LHCb National Computing Board (R. Graciani) and representative at the WLCG collaboration board (R. Graciani) and, Editorial Board (L. Garrido, E. Graugés)

  Job position description:

  Operation, exploitation, and upgrade of the LHCb experiment at CERN: LHCb is designed to search for physics beyond the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics through precision measurements of CP violation and rare decays of heavy-flavored hadrons produced at the LHC. At least two of the very few observations that point to the existence of physics beyond the SM (the baryon-antibaryon asymmetry and the neutrino oscillations) have a flavor physics nature. The search for new experimental insight in this field is therefore the next major milestone of the LHC experiments after the discovery of the Higgs boson. Direct searches provide the most direct path to the detection of new physics up to masses of the order of 1 TeV. Indirect searches at LHCb open the range up to 100 TeV through manifestations in quantum loops, with sizeable effects on some well-known physical observables, such as directly produced beauty and charmed particles. This thesis is in the frame of B meson radiative decays. For instance, the analysis of the isospin asymmetry between the radiative B meson decays B0→ k*0(892)g and B+→ k*+(892)g , that only differ in the spectator quark, and observables like the CP asymmetry and BR should not be significantly different (modulus the little mass difference). Nevertheless, this measurement can be sensitive to New Physics through a wide variety of mechanisms that produce isospin breaking effects (e.g., MSSM at large tanβ). To carry out this work, frequents trips and stays at CERN will be required (25% of the time) to exchange information, in LHCb collaboration meetings, as well as participation into data taking shifts in the experiment control room and in subdetector operations management.

• Small scale, feedback, dark matter and the predictions of the LCDM model [+]
  

  Group Leader: Raul Jimenez

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/98

  Research Project Description

  Measurements of clustering of matter in the Universe are key for addressing some of the biggest open questions in physics such as the nature of dark matter and the nature of dark energy. In particular weak gravitational lensing offers a window to observe directly the clustering of mass rather than that of visible light. Even for a dark matter probe such as weak gravitational lensing, however, there may be non-negligible effects arising from highly non-linear processes involving baryons i.e. stars, quasars etc. These are called “baryonic effects’ and may seriously compromise the interpretation of future data. Our group has developed sophisticated and innovative tools to mitigate this risk and analyse forthcoming cosmology surveys. We wish to use them to unveil the nature of dark matter and along the way learn about the `baryonic effects’ themselves.

  The group is composed by faculty member Licia Verde, Raul Jimenez, postdocs Antonio Cuesta, Fergus Simpson, Alvise Raccanelli and graduate students Jose Luis Bernal, Nicola Bellomo.

  Job Position Description

  This is a PhD project. It will involve research at the frontier of knowledge. Scientific output in the form of peer-reviewed articles is the expected outcome. At least three published articles are expected for the PhD degree to be awarded. The student will learn advanced techniques in cosmology both numerical and analytical as well as statistical, and then will have to use these to discover how to connect theoretical models to observations. The emphasis of the project is on understanding what dark matter is. This is mostly phenomenology project that requires excellent knowledge of cosmology and astronomy as well as advanced statistical techniques at the master level.

  Prerequisites: master degree in physics or equivalent, a cosmology course or astronomy, programming skills, text editor skills (latex).

  Expectations:

  • work effectively towards completion of the degree in a timely manner.devote full time and effort towards completing degree requirements and the required work towards the PhD.learn the existing theories, practices and research methods of the discipline and to apply these.
  • communicate regularly with faculty advisors providing updates on the student’s progress within the program and updates on results of research activities.
  • assume the highest integrity and maintain ethical standards in all aspects of the student’s work, especially in the tasks of collecting, analyzing, and presenting research data.
  • where applicable, to maintain detailed, organized and accurate records of the work done.
  • attend and participate in appropriate meetings, colloquia, seminars and group discussions that are part of the educational program, and the student should submit all relevant research results that are ready for publication in a timely manner.

• The Origin of Terrestrial Planets [+]
  

  Group Leader: Paolo Padoan

  http://icc.ub.edu/people/103

  Research Project

  What sets the stage for the formation of rocky planets, possibly hosting conditions favorable to the emergence of life? Planets are the result of the evolution of dusty gaseous disks around young stars born within large clouds of cold interstellar gas containing thousands to millions of solar masses. To model ab initio the formation of protoplanetary disks we must develop a computational framework that captures the complex environment of star forming clouds, including the coupling of turbulence, magnetic fields, stellar radiation and gravity over a vast range of scales.

  The project is composed of two parts: 1) Large-scale simulations of star-forming clouds, to achieve a realistic description of initial and boundary conditions for a large number of young stars and their circumstellar disks. 2) Simulations of dust evolution in protoplanetary disks, embedding billions of inertial particles, to study the transport and evolution of dust grains coupled with the gas dynamics self-consistently.

  These are very challenging multi-scale and multi-physics computational problems, requiring state-of-the-art massively parallel codes and large supercomputing allocations. The development of numerical codes is thus an important part of this project, which is carried out in close collaboration with the computational astrophysics group at the University of Copenhagen. The group in Barcelona will be composed by Prof. Padoan (group leader), Prof. Estalella, Dr. Frimann, the PhD student, and long-term visitors from the University of Copenhagen. The main collaborators in Copenhagen will be Prof. Nordlund, Prof. Haugbølle and Dr. Grassi. We have a proven track record in the field of computational astrophysics, leading the most challenging supercomputing applications in supersonic turbulence, star formation, solar physics, and plasma physics. We are regularly awarded some of the largest allocations in supercomputing facilities in the USA (NASA High End Computing) and Europe (PRACE program).

  Job position description:

  The PhD student who aspires to lead this project will have a keen interest in fundamental astrophysical processes, a demonstrated aptitude for the development and adoption of numerical codes, and a steadfast determination to become a world leader in the field of planet formation, with seminal and transformational contributions.

  Though not a strict prerequisite, expertise in hydrodynamics, plasma physics, turbulence theory and interstellar radiative processes is desirable. Good knowledge and experience with programming languages is required.

  The student will lead the development of specific code modules, the set up of numerical simulations and the analysis of their results. She/he will also collaborate in the preparation of supercomputing proposals and will be the leading author of at least two publications per year in the second and third year of the project. The student will attend international conferences, workshops and focused schools on computational methods. She/he will spend part of the time at the Star and Planet Formation Center at the University of Copenhagen, to collaborate in the development of a new hydrodynamic code designed specifically for future exascale supercomputers.

  Because of the multidisciplinary nature of this project, requiring expertise in interstellar medium physics, star formation, planet formation, magneto-hydrodynamics and computational methods, the student is expected to interact with different research groups within the Institute of Cosmos Sciences at the University of Barcelona and at other research centers abroad. Besides the collaborators in Copenhagen, the student will interact with researchers from the University of Helsinki (implementation of radiative transfer codes), Harvard University (physics of turbulence), University of Lund (origin of planetesimals), NASA Ames (modeling of dust evolution), Max Planck Institute of Munich (chemistry of protoplanetary disks).

• The Quantum Side of Dark Energy[+]
  

Group Leader: Cristiano Germani

http://icc.ub.edu/people/379

Research Project

One of the most compelling problems of theoretical physics is to find a convincing explanation for the observed accelerated expansion of our Universe. Since our Universe is mostly empty, within the Einstein theory of gravity, the most natural way to implement this acceleration is to assume an intrinsic (dark) energy of the vacuum (the cosmological constant). However, this simple explanation immediately clashes with our knowledge of the quantum world. A cosmological constant is indeed easily produced as quantum vacuum energy of the standard model of particle physics; nevertheless, any reasonable estimation of this, gives at least 54 orders of magnitudes above the observed value. On the other side, it is widely believed that a Universe dominated by a cosmological constant is quantum mechanically unstable. What is not known is what the fate of such a Universe is and if it could in principle quantum mechanically evolve into the Universe we observe today. This would be a completely new interpretation of the present Universe evolution from an early (possibly inflationary) state where a large cosmological constant would dominate. The aim of this project is therefore to develop this idea and to investigate all possible peculiar signatures of it, e.g. in satellite observations such as the forthcoming European Space Agency (ESA) EUCLID satellite, where the proposed supervisor is a coordinator. The student will then be part of both a strong theoretical group within the Institut de Ciències del Cosmos at the Universitat de Barcelona and join the EUCLID international collaboration as an active member.

Job position description:

This PhD project is multidisciplinary: from one side, the student will develop the appropriate skills to master the most sophisticated techniques of quantum field theory, general relativity and their interconnections. In this way, the student will be able to apply these techniques to the answer the question of whether the evolution of our Universe has a genuine quantum explanation. At the same time, by developing possible signatures of a quantum Universe, the student will substantiate the predictions of his/her models by simulating data to be compared with observations. In particular he/she will specialize his/her studies to the Euclid experiment. The Euclid experiment is an ESA mission to map the geometry of the dark Universe looking back in time up to 10 billions years. In this way, Euclid will cover the entire period over which dark energy played a significant role in accelerating the expansion. The student then, by becoming member of the EUCLID experiment, will also attend regular meetings related to that and visits strategic research centers within the ESA EUCLID collaboration.

Applications

All applications must be completed online at:

https://www.lacaixafellowships.org/index.aspx

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklowdowska- Curie grant agreement No. 713673