Prof. Bernard Carr Project Abstracts

BSc Project Abstracts

Primordial black holes
This project will examine the various ways in which black holes may have formed in the early universe and their possible cosmological consequences. Sufficiently small ones will have evaporated through Hawking emission but could still leave observable signatures through their contribution to the background radiation, their influence on cosmological nucleosynthesis, their generation of cosmic rays, and a variety of other effects. Larger ones would still exist and could have a variety of interesting dynamical, lensing and astrophysical effects. Students much choose to focus on one of more of these consequences. 

Quantum black holes
This project will examine the way in which black holes provide an interface between quantum theory and general relativity. The most famous example of this is black hole radiation. Although this was discovered nearly 40 years ago, several outstanding issues are still unresolved, such as the black hole information paradox and the nature of the processes which occur in the final explosive phase of an evaporating black hole. There is also the issue
of what happens as the black hole mass falls towards the Planck scale, which impinges on theories of quantum gravity. If there are large extra dimensions, Planck black holes may be detectable in accelerators like the LHC. Students may choose to focus on one of more of these aspects. 

MSci Review Project Abstracts

Multiverse proposal and cosmological fine-tuning
This project will examine the possible evidence for fine-tuning in the universe, involving both the constants of particle physics and various cosmological parameters. The weight of evidence for these tunings and their possible interpretation will be critically assessed. In particular, the possible relationship to the multiverse proposal, in which our universe is just one of a huge ensemble of universes, will be considered. There are many different multiverse scenarios, so students may choose to focus on some of these in more detail. This project also offers the possibility of a slightly more philosophically-oriented topic. 

MSci Research/Investigative Project Abstracts

Primordial black holes
This project will examine the various ways in which black holes may have formed in the early universe and their possible cosmological consequences. Sufficiently small ones will have evaporated through Hawking emission but could still leave observable signatures through their contribution to the background radiation, their influence on cosmological nucleosynthesis, their generation of cosmic rays, and a variety of other effects. Larger ones would still exist and could have a variety of interesting dynamical, lensing and astrophysical effects. Students much choose to focus on one of more of these consequences. 

Quantum black holes
This project will examine the way in which black holes provide an interface between quantum theory and general relativity. The most famous example of this is black hole radiation. Although this was discovered nearly 40 years ago, several outstanding issues are still unresolved, such as the black hole information paradox and the nature of the processes which occur in the final explosive phase of an evaporating black hole. There is also the issue of what happens as the black hole mass falls towards the Planck scale, which impinges on theories of quantum gravity. If there are large extra dimensions, Planck black holes may be detectable in accelerators like the LHC. Students much choose to focus on one of more of these aspects. 

Multiverse proposal and cosmological fine-tuning
This project will examine the possible evidence for fine-tuning in the universe, involving both the constants of particle physics and various cosmological parameters. The weight of evidence for these tunings and their possible interpretation will be critically assessed. In particular, the possible relationship to the multiverse proposal, in which our universe is just one of a huge ensemble of universes, will be considered. There are many different multiverse scenarios, so students may choose to focus on some of these in more detail. This project also offers the possibility of a slightly more philosophically-oriented topic.