Dr Cullan Howlett
Dr

Cullan Howlett

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0420776717

Background

I am a Senior Lecturer in Astrophysics in the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Queensland, and recipient of the 2026 Pawsey Medal from the Australian Academy of Science. My research focuses on mapping the positions and motions of millions of galaxies to understand how our Universe has evolved since the Big Bang — and to shed light on the mysterious dark matter and dark energy that make up 95% of everything in it.

I work on some of the largest galaxy surveys ever undertaken including

  • DESI (the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) — a project mapping tens of millions of galaxies across the Universe.
  • 4HS (the 4MOST Hemisphere Survey) — a new southern-sky survey that began observations in 2026, in which I lead the cosmology team

To analyse the enormous datasets these surveys produce, my team develops cutting-edge computing and statistical tools — techniques for making sense of extraordinarily large and complex data that are increasingly finding uses beyond astronomy.

Academic Background

  • Undergraduate: MPhys 1st Class Honours - University of Sussex, 2008-2012
  • Postgraduate: PhD - University of Portmouth, 2012-2016
  • Research Associate - University of Western Australia, 2015-2019
  • Research Fellow in Cosmology - University of Queensland, 2019-

Availability

Dr Cullan Howlett is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Astronomical instrumentation Astronomical sciences Cosmology and extragalactic astronomy Galactic astronomy General relativity and gravitational waves Physical Sciences

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Portsmouth

Research interests

  • Testing gravity using galaxy positions and motions

    One compelling way to explain dark matter and dark energy is that our current theory of gravity (General Relativity) doesn't work on scales much larger than the Solar system. One of my interests is developing different models and understanding how they can be proven or disproven with galaxy properties.

  • Fast simulations of large scale structure

    Current state of the art simulations are able to simulate the distributions of billions of galaxies, but these are very slow and can take weeks to run on the largest supercomputers. I'm interested in new approximate ways for generating these simulations or cool computational techniques such as machine learning, that can be run in a fraction of the time, or on fewer processors.

  • New statistical methods for analysing distributions of galaxies

    In addition to theoretical developments, I'm interested in looking for new statistical ways to use the galaxy data we have to give us insight into the Universe.

  • Gravitational waves

    Gravitational waves, first detected in 2015 are the new hot topic in physics and offer interesting ways to test cosmology. I'm interested in creating simulated catalogues of gravitational waves and using these to working out what cosmological insights gravitational waves can bring

Research impacts

What is the Universe actually made of? Everything we can see — every star, planet, and galaxy — makes up only about 5% of it. The rest is dark matter and dark energy: invisible, mysterious, and completely unlike anything we have ever detected in a laboratory. Understanding what they are is arguably the biggest open question in modern science.

My research extracts clues from the way galaxies move and cluster together across scales far beyond our own Milky Way galaxy, where the fingerprints of dark matter and dark energy are imprinted. I work on some of the largest galaxy surveys ever undertaken, and played a central role in recent results from the DESI collaboration that hint dark energy may be changing over time — a finding that, if confirmed, would rewrite textbook cosmology.

Beyond the science itself, the statistical and computing tools my team develops to handle these enormous datasets find applications in other fields, from finance to environmental modelling. And through my research group and teaching at UQ, I help train students in the quantitative skills that are in high demand across science, industry, and government.

History tells us that understanding the fundamental nature of our Universe eventually leads to technologies we can't yet imagine. My hope is that one day, unlocking the secrets of dark matter and dark energy could lead to amazing new technologies that would revolutionise how we live, work and play.

Search Professor Cullan Howlett’s works on UQ eSpace

171 works between 2012 and 2026
All (171) Journal Article (167) Conference Publication (4)

21 - 40 of 171 works

2026

Conference Publication

SIRMOS optical design: NIR spectroscopy of 100,000,000 galaxies at 1 < z < 4 and R~1300

Content, Robert, Wang, Yun, Robberto, Massimo, Wirth, Gregory, Lawrence, Jon, Spitler, Lee, Dickinson, Mark, Greene, Thomas, Kruck, Jeffrey, Percival, Will, Faisst, Andreas, Hillenbrand, Lynne, Kartaltepe, Jeyhan, Padmanabhan, Nikhil, Samushia, Lado, Armus, Lee, Beutler, Florian, Benson, Andrew, Bolzonella, Micol, Brieden, Samuel, Brinchmann, Jarle, Daddi, Emanuele, Finner, Kyle, Hearin, Andrew, Howlett, Cullan, Mosby, Gregory, Mueller, Eva-Maria, Nadathur, Seshadri, Ninkov, Zoran ... Smee, Stephen (2026). SIRMOS optical design: NIR spectroscopy of 100,000,000 galaxies at 1 < z < 4 and R~1300. SPIE. doi: 10.1117/12.3105851

SIRMOS optical design: NIR spectroscopy of 100,000,000 galaxies at 1 < z < 4 and R~1300

2026

Conference Publication

The SIRMOS mission concept: a space-based near-IR spectroscopic survey of 100 million galaxies in the Euclid Wide Survey footprint

Wirth, Gregory D., Wang, Yun, Robberto, Massimo, Dickinson, Mark, Greene, Thomas, Kruk, Jeffrey, Percival, Will, Schlieder, Joshua E., Faisst, Andreas, Hillenbrand, Lynne, Kartaltepe, Jeyhan, Padmanabhan, Nikhil, Samushia, Lado, Content, Robert, Bolzonella, Micol, Brieden, Samuel, Armus, Lee, Bahr-Kalus, Benedict, Benson, Andrew, Beutler, Florian, Brinchmann, Jarle, Cutlip, Hansford, Daddi, Emanuele, Finner, Kyle, Forsyth, Jason, Glaister, David, Gorham, Carlita, Hearin, Andrew, Howlett, Cullan ... Streetman, Scott (2026). The SIRMOS mission concept: a space-based near-IR spectroscopic survey of 100 million galaxies in the Euclid Wide Survey footprint. SPIE. doi: 10.1117/12.3104870

The SIRMOS mission concept: a space-based near-IR spectroscopic survey of 100 million galaxies in the Euclid Wide Survey footprint

2026

Journal Article

The velocity coherence scale: a novel probe of cosmic homogeneity and a potential standard ruler

Giani, Leonardo, Howlett, Cullan, Blake, Chris, Turner, Ryan and Davis, Tamara M. (2026). The velocity coherence scale: a novel probe of cosmic homogeneity and a potential standard ruler. Open Journal of Astrophysics, 9, 1-19. doi: 10.33232/001c.166880

The velocity coherence scale: a novel probe of cosmic homogeneity and a potential standard ruler

2026

Journal Article

DESI DR2 baryon acoustic oscillations from the Lyman alpha forest multipoles

Karaçaylı, Naim Göksel, Cuceu, Andrei, Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Bailey, S., BenZvi, S., Bianchi, D., Brodzeller, A., Brooks, D., Claybaugh, T., de la Macorra, A., Dey, B., Doel, P., Estrada, J., Ferraro, S., Font-Ribera, A., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho, S. Gontcho A, Gonzalez-Morales, A. X., Gutierrez, G., Hahn, C., Herrera-Alcantar, H. K., Honscheid, K., Howlett, C., Ishak, M., Joyce, R., Kehoe, R., Kirkby, D. ... Zou, H. (2026). DESI DR2 baryon acoustic oscillations from the Lyman alpha forest multipoles. Physical Review D, 114 (4) 043518. doi: 10.1103/YL3V-CYCK

DESI DR2 baryon acoustic oscillations from the Lyman alpha forest multipoles

2026

Journal Article

The DESI DR1 Peculiar Velocity Survey: Fundamental Plane Catalogue

Ross, C. E., Howlett, C., Lucey, J. R., Said, K., Davis, T. M., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Amsellem, A. J., Bautista, J., BenZvi, S., Bianchi, D., Blake, C., Brooks, D., Carr, A., Claybaugh, T., Cuceu, A., de la Macorra, A., Dey, B., Doel, P., Douglass, K., Ferraro, S., Font-Ribera, A., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho A Gontcho, S., Gutierrez, G., Guy, J., Honscheid, K., Huterer, D. ... Zou, H. (2026). The DESI DR1 Peculiar Velocity Survey: Fundamental Plane Catalogue. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 1-24. doi: 10.1017/pasa.2026.10204

The DESI DR1 Peculiar Velocity Survey: Fundamental Plane Catalogue

2026

Journal Article

Revisiting GW170817 at milliarcsecond scale: high-precision constraints on jet geometry and H0

Gourdji, Kelly, Deller, Adam T., Flynn, Chris, Govreen-Segal, Taya, Howlett, Cullan, Mooley, Kunal P. and Nakar, Ehud (2026). Revisiting GW170817 at Milliarcsecond Scale: High-precision Constraints on Jet Geometry and H 0. The Astrophysical Journal, 1005 (1) 93, 93-93. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ae706c

Revisiting GW170817 at milliarcsecond scale: high-precision constraints on jet geometry and H0

2026

Journal Article

The DESI DR1 Peculiar Velocity Survey: global zero-point and H0 constraints

Carr, A., Howlett, C., Amsellem, A. J., Davis, Tamara M., Said, K., Parkinson, D., Palmese, A., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Bautista, J., BenZvi, S., Bianchi, D., Blake, C., Brooks, D., Claybaugh, T., Cuceu, A., de la Macorra, A., Doel, P., Douglass, K., Ferraro, S., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho A Gontcho, S., Gutierrez, G., Herrera-Alcantar, H. K., Honscheid, K., Huterer, D., Ishak, M., Joyce, R. ... Zou, H. (2026). The DESI DR1 Peculiar Velocity Survey: global zero-point and H0 constraints. The Astrophysical Journal, 1004 (2) 235, 1-17. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ae6866

The DESI DR1 Peculiar Velocity Survey: global zero-point and H0 constraints

2026

Journal Article

Fiducial-cosmology-dependent systematics for the DESI 2024 full-shape analysis

Gsponer, R., Ramirez-Solano, S., Rodríguez-Martínez, F., Vargas-Magaña, M., Novell-Masot, S., Findlay, N., Gil-Marín, H., Zarrouk, P., Nadathur, S., Rocher, A., Brieden, S., Pérez-Fernández, A., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Castander, F.J., Claybaugh, T., Cuceu, A., de la Macorra, A., de Mattia, A., Dey, Arjun, Doel, P., Font-Ribera, A., Forero-Romero, J.E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho, S.Gontcho A., Gutierrez, G., Guy, J. ... Zou, H. (2026). Fiducial-cosmology-dependent systematics for the DESI 2024 full-shape analysis. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2026 (06) 010, 010. doi: 10.1088/1475-7516/2026/06/010

Fiducial-cosmology-dependent systematics for the DESI 2024 full-shape analysis

2026

Journal Article

Emulating galaxy and peculiar velocity clustering on non-linear scales

Dumerchat, T., Bautista, J., Ravoux, C., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., BenZvi, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Claybaugh, T., de la Macorra, A., Doel, P., Ferraro, S., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho A Gontcho, S., Gutierrez, G., Hahn, C., Howlett, C., Ishak, M., Joyce, R., Kirkby, D., Kremin, A., Lamman, C., Landriau, M., Le Guillou, L., Manera, M., Miquel, R., Nadathur, S., Percival, W. J. ... Zou, H. (2026). Emulating galaxy and peculiar velocity clustering on non-linear scales. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 710 A155, 1-15. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202659295

Emulating galaxy and peculiar velocity clustering on non-linear scales

2026

Journal Article

Parity-odd four-point correlation function from the DESI data release 1 luminous red galaxy sample

Hou, Jiamin, Cahn, Robert N., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Cahn, R. N., Claybaugh, T., Doel, P., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztanaga, E., Le Guillou, L., Gutierrez, G., Howlett, C., Huterer, D., Ishak, M., Joyce, R., Kremin, A., Lahav, O., Lamman, C., Landriau, M., de la Macorra, A., Miquel, R., Nadathur, S., Niz, G., Percival, W. J., Perez-Rafols, I., Prada, F., Rossi, G. ... Zou, H. (2026). Parity-odd four-point correlation function from the DESI data release 1 luminous red galaxy sample. Physical Review D, 113 (10) 103502. doi: 10.1103/2dmd-hyt1

Parity-odd four-point correlation function from the DESI data release 1 luminous red galaxy sample

2026

Journal Article

Detection of supernova magnitude fluctuations induced by large-scale structure

Nguyen, A., Blake, C., Turner, R. J., Aronica, V., Bautista, J., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Benzvi, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Carr, A., Claybaugh, T., Cuceu, A., de la Macorra, A., Dey, B., Doel, P., Douglass, K., Ferraro, S., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho, S. Gontcho A., Gutierrez, G., Guy, J., Honscheid, K., Howlett, C., Huterer, D., Ishak, M., Joyce, R., Kehoe, R. ... Zou, H. (2026). DETECTION OF SUPERNOVA MAGNITUDE FLUCTUATIONS INDUCED BY LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURE. Open Journal of Astrophysics, 9. doi: 10.33232/001c.161766

Detection of supernova magnitude fluctuations induced by large-scale structure

2026

Journal Article

Data Release 1 of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

DESI Collaboration, Abdul Karim, M., Adame, A. G., Aguado, D., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Alam, S., Aldering, G., Alexander, D. M., Alfarsy, R., Allen, L., Allende Prieto, C., Alves, O., Anand, A., Andrade, U., Armengaud, E., Avila, S., Aviles, A., Awan, H., Bailey, S., Baleato Lizancos, A., Ballester, O., Bault, A., Bautista, J., Bean, R., Behera, J., BenZvi, S., Beraldo e Silva, L., Bermejo-Climent, J. R. ... Zu, Y. (2026). Data Release 1 of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. The Astronomical Journal, 171 (5) 285, 1-34. doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/ae4c43

Data Release 1 of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

2026

Journal Article

Inference of the linear matter power spectrum at z = 0 using DESI DR1 Full-Shape data

Cereskaite, R., Mueller, E., Howlett, Cullan, Davis, Tamara M., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Castander, F.J., Claybaugh, T., Cuceu, A., de la Macorra, A., Ferraro, S., Font-Ribera, A., Forero-Romero, J.E., Gaztañaga, E., Gutierrez, G., Hahn, C., Honscheid, K., Huterer, D., Ishak, M., Joyce, R., Juneau, S., Kirkby, D., Kremin, A., Lahav, O., Lambert, A., Landriau, M., Le Guillou, L. ... The DESI collaboration (2026). Inference of the linear matter power spectrum at z = 0 using DESI DR1 Full-Shape data. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2026 (04). doi: 10.1088/1475-7516/2026/04/080

Inference of the linear matter power spectrum at z = 0 using DESI DR1 Full-Shape data

2026

Journal Article

Combined tracer analysis for DESI 2024 BAO

Valcin, D., Rashkovetskyi, M., Seo, H., Beutler, F., McDonald, P., de Mattia, A., Rosado-Marín, A.J., Ross, A.J., Padmanabhan, N., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Andrade, U., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Chaussidon, E., Chen, S., Chen, X., Claybaugh, T., Cuceu, A., Dawson, K.S., de la Macorra, A., Dey, Biprateep, Ding, Z., Doel, P., Ferraro, S., Font-Ribera, A., Forero-Romero, J.E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho A Gontcho, S. ... Zou, H. (2026). Combined tracer analysis for DESI 2024 BAO. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2026 (04) 058, 1-37. doi: 10.1088/1475-7516/2026/04/058

Combined tracer analysis for DESI 2024 BAO

2026

Journal Article

Probing the environment around GW170817 with DESI: insights on galaxy group peculiar velocities for standard siren measurements

Amsellem, A. J., Palmese, A., Douglass, K., Howlett, C., Karp, J. S. M., Magaña Hernandez, I., Moustakas, J., Wechsler, R. H., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., BenZvi, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Carr, A., Claybaugh, T., Cuceu, A., Davis, T. M., de la Macorra, A., Dey, A., Dey, B., Doel, P., Font-Ribera, A., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho A Gontcho, S., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., Ishak, M., Joyce, R. ... THE DESI COLLABORATION (2026). Probing the environment around GW170817 with DESI: insights on galaxy group peculiar velocities for standard siren measurements. The Astrophysical Journal, 1001 (2) 157, 1-19. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ae4b37

Probing the environment around GW170817 with DESI: insights on galaxy group peculiar velocities for standard siren measurements

2026

Journal Article

The DESI DR1 peculiar velocity survey: growth rate measurements from the maximum likelihood fields method

Lai, Y., Howlett, C., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Amsellem, A. J., Bautista, J., BenZvi, S., Bianchi, D., Blake, C., Brooks, D., Carr, A., Claybaugh, T., Davis, T. M., de la Macorra, A., Doel, P., Douglass, K., Ferraro, S., Font-Ribera, A., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztañaga, E., Gutierrez, G., Guy, J., Herrera-Alcantar, H. K., Huterer, D., Ishak, M., Joyce, R., Kim, A., Kirkby, D., Kisner, T. ... Zou, H. (2026). The DESI DR1 peculiar velocity survey: growth rate measurements from the maximum likelihood fields method. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2026 (04) 026, 1-42. doi: 10.1088/1475-7516/2026/04/026

The DESI DR1 peculiar velocity survey: growth rate measurements from the maximum likelihood fields method

2026

Journal Article

DESI EDR: calibrating the Tully–Fisher Relationship with the DESI Peculiar Velocity Survey

Douglass, K., BenZvi, S., Uberoi, N., Howlett, C., Saulder, C., Said, K., Demina, R., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Aldering, G., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Claybaugh, T., Cuceu, A., Davis, T. M., Dawson, K. S., de la Macorra, A., Font-Ribera, A., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho A Gontcho, S., Gutierrez, G., Hahn, C., Honscheid, K., Ishak, M., Joyce, R., Kisner, T., Kremin, A., Landriau, M. ... Zou, H. (2026). DESI EDR: calibrating the Tully–Fisher Relationship with the DESI Peculiar Velocity Survey. The Astrophysical Journal, 1001 (1) 20, 1-14. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ae517b

DESI EDR: calibrating the Tully–Fisher Relationship with the DESI Peculiar Velocity Survey

2026

Journal Article

Identifying anomalous DESI galaxy spectra with a variational autoencoder

Nicolaou, C, Nathan, R P, Lahav, O, Palmese, A, Saintonge, A, Aguilar, J, Ahlen, S, Prieto, C Allende, Bailey, S, BenZvi, S, Bianchi, D, Brodzeller, A, Brooks, D, Claybaugh, T, de la Macorra, A, Costa, J Della, Dey, Arjun, Doel, P, Forero-Romero, J E, Gaztañaga, E, Gontcho, S Gontcho A, Gutierrez, G, Honscheid, K, Howlett, C, Ishak, M, Kehoe, R, Kirkby, D, Kisner, T, Kremin, A ... Zou, H (2026). Identifying anomalous DESI galaxy spectra with a variational autoencoder. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 547 (2) stag010, 1-22. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stag010

Identifying anomalous DESI galaxy spectra with a variational autoencoder

2026

Journal Article

H0 without the sound horizon (or supernovae): a 2% measurement in DESI DR1

Zaborowski, E.A., Taylor, P., Honscheid, K., Cuceu, A., de Mattia, A., Krolewski, A., Rashkovetskyi, M., Ross, A.J., To, C., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Anand, A., BenZvi, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Castander, F.J., Claybaugh, T., de la Macorra, A., Della Costa, J., Doel, P., Ferraro, S., Font-Ribera, A., Forero-Romero, J.E., Gaztañaga, E., Gutierrez, G., Herrera-Alcantar, H.K., Howlett, C., Huterer, D., Ishak, M. ... Zou, H. (2026). H0 without the sound horizon (or supernovae): a 2% measurement in DESI DR1. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2026 (04) 004, 1-31. doi: 10.1088/1475-7516/2026/04/004

H0 without the sound horizon (or supernovae): a 2% measurement in DESI DR1

2026

Journal Article

The DESI DR1 peculiar velocity survey: growth rate measurements from the galaxy power spectrum

Qin, F., Blake, C., Howlett, C., Turner, R. J., Lodha, K., Bautista, J., Lai, Y., Amsellem, A. J., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., BenZvi, S., Carr, A., Chaussidon, E., Claybaugh, T., Cuceu, A., de la Macorra, A., Douglass, K., Doel, P., Ferraro, S., Font-Ribera, A., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho A Gontcho, S., Gutierrez, G., Guy, J., Herrera-Alcantar, H. K., Honscheid, K. ... Zou, H. (2026). The DESI DR1 peculiar velocity survey: growth rate measurements from the galaxy power spectrum. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 708 A219, 1-23. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202558368

The DESI DR1 peculiar velocity survey: growth rate measurements from the galaxy power spectrum

Current funding

  • 2027 - 2030
    Illuminating Dark Energy In the Nearby Universe
    ARC Future Fellowships
    Open grant
  • 2025 - 2028
    Cosmic Cartography to Counter Cosmic Conundrums
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2026
    A Space Odyssey: Exploring the Universe with Gravitational-Wave Sirens
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant

Availability

Dr Cullan Howlett is:
Available for supervision

Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.

Available projects

  • Mapping the Universe with DESI and 4HS

    Maps of the positions of millions of galaxies in our Universe are used to refine our understanding of its components and evolution. However, these experiments have left us with more questions than answers. What is the nature of dark energy and dark matter? Is Einstein’s theory of General Relativity correct on scales beyond our solar system?

    Upcoming surveys aim to answer these questions. But understanding how the distributions and motions of galaxies relate to fundamental physics and how to sift through this enormous amount of data to uncover the truth requires improving our analysis techniques and developing new ways to use the data.

    Many projects are available under this theme, with different emphasis on mathematical theory, data analysis or computer programming. They could involve improving and speeding up methods for simulating the Universe on supercomputers. Or developing new mathematical models for describing how galaxies cluster and move relative to each other. Or, they could involve using real measurements of positions and velocities of galaxies we are currently obtaining or working towards with surveys such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, WALLABY, or the 4MOST Hemisphere Survey.

  • Cosmology with gravitational waves

    Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time that propogate away from massive compact objects as they merge, to hopefully, eventually, be detected here on Earth by the LIGO/Virgo gravitational wave detectors. Gravitational waves hold information on some of the most exotic objects in the Universe such as black holes and neutron stars. They can also be used to test cosmological models, particularly because they act as "Standard Sirens" - the gravitational waveform tells us how far away the merging objects are which then can be used to work out how fast the Universe is expanding and how fast it's large scale structures are growing.

    This project will look at techniques for extracting Standard Siren measurements from gravitational waves. In particular, developing simulated catalogues of gravitational wave events and then using these simulations to work out how best to extract cosmology from the real data. This project brings together a range of fields, from understanding the details of how black holes and neutron stars are formed, to theoretical modelling of future cosmology studies that might be possible once we have hundreds of gravitational waves.

Supervision history

Current supervision

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Dr Cullan Howlett directly for media enquiries about:

  • Astronomy
  • Astrophysics
  • Cosmology
  • Dark energy
  • Dark matter

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