Professor Trevor Ponman

Professor Trevor Ponman

School of Physics and Astronomy
Honorary Professor of Astrophysics

Contact details

Address
School of Physics and Astronomy
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Trevor Ponman is an Emeritus Professor at Birmingham. His research focuses on  the study of hot gas within galaxies, groups and clusters. He has played a world-leading role in establishing the importance of galaxy groups as an important reservoir of hot baryonic material, and in demonstrating how the properties of this gas can be used to probe the thermal history of cosmic structures. He has published over 200 scientific papers, 18 of which have 100 or more citations.

He is also an enthusiastic advocate of novel teaching approaches involving student-centred and independent learning, and has engaged over many years in a wide variety of activities relating to the promotion and public understanding of science.

Qualifications

  • PhD,  University of Birmingham, 1981

         - A survey of the bright galactic bulge X-ray sources

  • PGCert, Bishop Otter College, Chichester, 1975
  • BSc Hons, Physics, University of Warwick, 1973

Biography

Trevor Ponman arrived at Birmingham University in 1978, at the time when X-ray astronomy was developing from an experimental activity into a full branch of astronomy. His PhD, completed in 1981, involved the study of neutron star and black hole binaries in the central regions of our galaxy, with the British-built Ariel V satellite. He was subsequently closely involved in the ROSAT and XMM missions, to which the Birmingham group made substantial contributions, and was a member of the team which flew a coded mask telescope on the Spacelab 2 shuttle mission in 1985. En route, his main area of interest shifted to galaxy groups and clusters. The study of hot gas in these systems was largely pioneered during this period, and a number of papers in Nature confirmed the widespread interest in the results.

The launch of the new generation of X-ray observatories, Chandra and XMM, in 1999, provided data of much higher quality, and Trevor spent a sabbatical at Harvard involved in the exciting early phases of work on galaxy clusters with Chandra. He is now engaged in a number of multiwavelength studies of galaxy groups and clusters, with  a common theme of trying to understand the impact of  “cosmic feedback” from supernovae and accreting supermassive black holes. He enjoys collaborating with theorists and cosmological simulators, and has a developing interest in applying advanced analysis techniques to highly multidimensional data of the sort which is increasingly available from large astronomical surveys.

Teaching

Research themes

  • Galaxy groups 
  • Galaxy clusters
  • Cosmic feedback
  • Environmental effects on galaxies

For details of extragalactic research at Birmingham, please see further information about Birmingham Extragalactic Astronomy.

Postgraduate supervision

Trevor has supervised over 20 research PhDs at Birmingham, mostly in extragalactic astrophysics.

Research

Research themes

  • Galaxy groups 
  • Galaxy clusters
  • Cosmic feedback
  • Environmental effects on galaxies

For details of extragalactic research at Birmingham, please see further information about Birmingham Extragalactic Astronomy.

Other activities

  • Newton International Fellowship Panel, Royal Society (2010-)
  • Academy of Finland, Space Research and Astronomy Panel (2010)
  • Chandra Time Allocation Committee (2004, 2006, 2008, 2009)
  • Chair, XMM Time Allocation Committee (2004, 2005)
  • AstroGrid Oversight Committee, PPARC (2004-2008)

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Pearson, RJ, Ponman, TJ, Norberg, P, Robotham, ASG, Babul, A, Bower, RG, McCarthy, IG, Brough, S, Driver, SP & Pimbblet, K 2017, 'Galaxy And Mass Assembly: search for a population of high-entropy galaxy groups', Royal Astronomical Society. Monthly Notices, vol. 469, no. 3, pp. 3489–3504. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx1081

O'Sullivan, E, Ponman, TJ, Kolokythas, K, Raychaudhury, S, Babul, A, Vrtilek, JM, David, LP, Giacintucci, S, Gitti, M & Haines, CP 2017, 'The Complete Local Volume Groups Sample - I. Sample Selection and X-ray Properties of the High-Richness Subsample', Royal Astronomical Society. Monthly Notices, vol. 472, no. 2, pp. 1482–1505. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx2078

Brun, AMCL, McCarthy, IG, Schaye, J & Ponman, TJ 2017, 'The scatter and evolution of the global hot gas properties of simulated galaxy cluster populations', Royal Astronomical Society. Monthly Notices, vol. 466, no. 4, pp. 4442–4469. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw3361

Guglielmo, V, Poggianti, BM, Vulcani, B, Adami, C, Gastaldello, F, Ettori, S, Fotoupoulou, S, Koulouridis, E, Ceja, MER, Giles, P, McGee, S, Altieri, B, Baldry, I, Birkinshaw, M, Bolzonella, M, Bongiorno, A, Chiappetti, L, Driver, S, Elyiv, A, Evrard, A, Garilli, B, Grootes, M, Guennou, L, Hopkins, A, Horellou, C, Iovino, A, Lidman, C, Liske, J, Maurogordato, S, Owers, M, Pacaud, F, Paltani, S, Pierre, M, Plionis, M, Ponman, T, Robotham, A, Sadibekova, T, Scodeggio, M, Sereno, M, Smolvcic, V, Tuffs, R, Valtchanov, I, Vignali, C & Willis, J 2017, 'The XXL Survey: XXII. The XXL-North spectrophotometric sample and galaxy stellar mass function in X-ray detected groups and clusters', Astronomy and Astrophysics. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201730709

Pierre, M, Adami, C, Birkinshaw, M, Chiappetti, L, Ettori, S, Evrard, A, Faccioli, L, Gastaldello, F, Giles, P, Horellou, C, Iovino, A, Koulouridis, E, Lidman, C, Le Brun, A, Maughan, B, Maurogordato, S, McCarthy, I, Miyazaki, S, Pacaud, F, Paltani, S, Plionis, M, Reiprich, T, Sadibekova, T, Smolcic, V, Snowden, S, Surdej, J, Tsirou, M, Vignali, C, Willis, J, Alis, S, Altieri, B, Baran, N, Benoist, C, Bongiorno, A, Bremer, M, Butler, A, Cappi, A, Caretta, C, Ciliegi, P, Clerc, N, Corasaniti, PS, Coupon, J, Delhaize, J, Delvecchio, I, Democles, J, Desai, S, Devriendt, J, Dubois, Y, Eckert, D, Elyiv, A, Farahi, A, Ferraril, C, Fotopoulou, S, Forman, W, Georgantopoulos, I, Guglielmo, V, Huynh, M, Jerlin, N, Jones, C, Lavoie, S, Le Fevre, J-P, Lieu, M, Kilbinger, M, MaruIli, F, Mantz, A, McGee, S, Melin, J-B, Melnyk, O, Moscardini, L, Novak, M, Piconcelli, E, Poggianti, B, Pomarede, D, Pompei, E, Ponman, T, Ramos Ceja, ME, Rana, P, Rapetti, D, Raychaudhury, S, Ricci, M, Rottgering, H, Sahlen, M, Sauvageot, J-L, Schimd, C, Sereno, M, Smith, GP, Umetsu, K, Valageas, P, Valotti, A, Valtchanov, I, Veropalumbo, A, Ascaso, B, Barnes, D, De Petris, M, Durret, F, Donahue, M, Ithana, M, Jarvis, M, Johnston-Hollitt, M, Kalfountzou, E, Kay, S, La Franca, F, Okabe, N, Muzzin, A, Rettura, A, Ricci, F, Ridl, J, Risaliti, G, Takizawa, M, Thomas, P & Truong, N 2017, 'The XXL survey: First results and future', Astronomische Nachrichten, vol. 338, no. 2-3, pp. 334-341. https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.201713352

Pacaud, F, Clerc, N, Giles, PA, Adami, C, Sadibekova, T, Pierre, M, Maughan, BJ, Lieu, M, Le Fèvre, JP, Alis, S, Altieri, B, Ardila, F, Baldry, I, Benoist, C, Birkinshaw, M, Chiappetti, L, Démoclès, J, Eckert, D, Evrard, AE, Faccioli, L, Gastaldello, F, Guennou, L, Horellou, C, Iovino, A, Koulouridis, E, Le Brun, V, Lidman, C, Liske, J, Maurogordato, S, Menanteau, F, Owers, M, Poggianti, B, Pomarède, D, Pompei, E, Ponman, TJ, Rapetti, D, Reiprich, TH, Smith, GP, Tuffs, R, Valageas, P, Valtchanov, I, Willis, JP & Ziparo, F 2016, 'The XXL Survey: II. The bright cluster sample: catalogue and luminosity function', Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 592, pp. A2. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201526891

Pierre, M, Pacaud, F, Adami, C, Alis, S, Altieri, B, Baran, B, Benoist, C, Birkinshaw, M, Bongiorno, A, Bremer, MN, Brusa, M, Butler, A, Ciliegi, P, Chiappetti, L, Clerc, N, Corasaniti, PS, Coupon, J, Breuck, CD, Democles, J, Desai, S, Delhaize, J, Devriendt, J, Dubois, Y, Eckert, D, Elyiv, A, Ettori, S, Evrard, A, Faccioli, L, Farahi, A, Ferrari, C, Finet, F, Fotopoulou, S, Fourmanoit, N, Gandhi, P, Gastaldello, F, Gastaud, R, Georgantopoulos, I, Giles, P, Guennou, L, Guglielmo, V, Horellou, C, Husband, K, Huynh, M, Iovino, A, Kilbinger, M, Koulouridis, E, Lavoie, S, Brun, AMCL, Fevre, JPL, Lidman, C, Lieu, M, Lin, CA, Mantz, A, Maughan, BJ, Maurogordato, S, McCarthy, IG, McGee, S, Melin, JB, Melnyk, O, Menanteau, F, Novak, M, Paltani, S, Plionis, M, Poggianti, BM, Pomarede, D, Pompei, E, Ponman, TJ, Ramos-Ceja, ME, Ranalli, P, Rapetti, D, Raychaudury, S, Reiprich, TH, Rottgering, H, Rozo, E, Rykoff, E, Sadibekova, T, Santos, J, Sauvageot, JL, Schimd, C, Sereno, M, Smith, GP, Smolčić, V, Snowden, S, Spergel, D, Stanford, S, Surdej, J, Valageas, P, Valotti, A, Valtchanov, I, Vignali, C, Willis, J & Ziparo, F 2016, 'The XXL Survey: I. Scientific motivations − XMM-Newton observing plan − follow-up observations and simulation programme', Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 592, A1. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201526766

Lavoie, S, Willis, JP, Démoclès, J, Eckert, D, Gastaldello, F, Smith, GP, Lidman, C, Adami, C, Pacaud, F, Pierre, M, Clerc, N, Lieu, M, Chiappetti, L, Altieri, B, Ardila, F, Baldry, I, Bongiorno, A, Desai, S, Elyiv, A, Faccioli, L, Garilli, B, Groote, MW, Guennou, L, Guzzo, L, Liske, J, McGee, S, Melnyk, O, Owers, MS, Poggianti, B, Ponman, TJ, Scodeggio, M, Spitler, L & Tuffs, RJ 2016, 'The XXL survey XV: Evidence for dry merger driven BCG growth in XXL-100-GC X-ray clusters', Royal Astronomical Society. Monthly Notices, vol. 462, no. 4, pp. 4141-4156. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1906

Pearson, RJ, Ponman, TJ, Norberg, P, Robotham, ASG & Farr, WM 2015, 'On optical mass estimation methods for galaxy groups', Royal Astronomical Society. Monthly Notices, vol. 449, no. 3, pp. 3082-3106. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv463

Pascut, A & Ponman, TJ 2015, 'The Chandra Deep Group Survey - cool core evolution in groups and clusters of galaxies', Royal Astronomical Society. Monthly Notices, vol. 447, no. 4, pp. 3723-3744. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu2688

Buote, DA, O'sullivan, E & Ponman, TJ 2014, 'X-Ray Measurements of the Mass Profiles in Massive Isolated Elliptical Galaxies', Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, vol. 10, no. S311, pp. 40-44. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174392131500335X

Lara-lopez, MA, Hopkins, AM, Lopez-sanchez, AR, Brough, S, Gunawardhana, MLP, Colless, M, Robotham, ASG, Bauer, AE, Bland-hawthorn, J, Cluver, M, Driver, S, Foster, C, Kelvin, LS, Liske, J, Loveday, J, Owers, MS, Ponman, TJ, Sharp, RG, Steele, O, Taylor, EN & Thomas, D 2013, 'Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): a deeper view of the mass, metallicity and SFR relationships', Royal Astronomical Society. Monthly Notices. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt1031

Hopkins, AM, Driver, SP, Brough, S, Owers, MS, Bauer, AE, Gunawardhana, MLP, Cluver, ME, Colless, M, Foster, C, Lara-lopez, MA, Roseboom, I, Sharp, R, Steele, O, Thomas, D, Baldry, IK, Brown, MJI, Liske, J, Norberg, P, Robotham, ASG, Bamford, S, Bland-hawthorn, J, Drinkwater, MJ, Loveday, J, Meyer, M, Peacock, JA, Tuffs, R, Agius, N, Alpaslan, M, Andrae, E, Cameron, E, Cole, S, Ching, JHY, Christodoulou, L, Conselice, C, Croom, S, Cross, NJG, De Propris, R, Delhaize, J, Dunne, L, Eales, S, Ellis, S, Frenk, CS, Graham, AW, Grootes, MW, Haussler, B, Heymans, C, Hill, D, Hoyle, B, Hudson, M, Jarvis, M, Johansson, J, Jones, DH, Van Kampen, E, Kelvin, L, Kuijken, K, Lopez-sanchez, A, Maddox, S, Madore, B, Maraston, C, Mcnaught-roberts, T, Nichol, RC, Oliver, S, Parkinson, H, Penny, S, Phillipps, S, Pimbblet, KA, Ponman, T, Popescu, CC, Prescott, M, Proctor, R, Sadler, EM, Sansom, AE, Seibert, M, Staveley-smith, L, Sutherland, W, Taylor, E, Van Waerbeke, L, Vazquez-mata, JA, Warren, S, Wijesinghe, DB, Wild, V & Wilkins, S 2013, 'Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): spectroscopic analysis', Royal Astronomical Society. Monthly Notices, vol. 430, no. 3, pp. 2047-2066. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt030

Owers, MS, Baldry, IK, Bauer, AE, Bland-hawthorn, J, Brown, MJI, Cluver, ME, Colless, M, Driver, SP, Edge, AC, Hopkins, AM, Van Kampen, E, Lara-lopez, MA, Liske, J, Loveday, J, Pimbblet, KA, Ponman, T & Robotham, ASG 2013, 'GALAXY AND MASS ASSEMBLY (GAMA): WITNESSING THE ASSEMBLY OF THE CLUSTER ABELL 1882', The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 772, no. 2, pp. 104. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/772/2/104

Conference contribution

Ibrahem, RT, Tino, P, Pearson, RJ, Ponman, TJ & Babul, A 2015, Automated detection of galaxy groups through probabilistic hough transform. in S Arik, T Huang, WK Lai & Q Lui (eds), Neural Information Processing : 22nd International Conference, ICONIP 2015, Istanbul, Turkey, November 9-12, 2015, Proceedings Part III. vol. 9491, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), vol. 9491, Springer, pp. 323-331, 22nd International Conference on Neural Information Processing, ICONIP 2015, Istanbul, Turkey, 9/11/15. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26555-1_37

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