arXiv subjects

Olivia Keenan

Publications and source records attributed to Olivia Keenan.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

SEPnet: A sustainable model for a collaborative physics network

The South East Physics network (SEPnet) is a collaboration between nine universities in the South East of England, working together to deliver excellence in physics. By sharing resources, we are able to add much more value to our departments, students, and subject than we could achieve individually. Our core ambitions include ensuring the sustainability of physics in our region, enhancing the employability of our students, delivering advanced training, securing the pipeline of future students, opening up new research opportunities and breaking down barriers to improve the accessibility of physics for everyone. We believe that SEPnet provides a tried and tested model that could be rolled out by others to improve the academic excellence of other disciplines in different regions.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2021

Evaluating participants' experience of extended interaction with cutting-edge physics research through the PRiSE 'research in schools' programme

Physics in schools is distinctly different from, and struggles to capture the excitement of, university research-level work. Initiatives where students engage in independent research linked to cutting-edge physics within their school over several months might help mitigate this, potentially facilitating the uptake of science in higher education. However, how such initiatives are best supported remains unclear and understudied. This paper evaluates a provision framework, `Physics Research in School Environments' (PRiSE), using survey data from participating 14-18 year-old students and their teachers to understand their experience of the programme. The results show that PRiSE appears to provide much more positive experiences than typical university outreach initiatives due to the nature of the opportunities afforded over several months, which schools would not be able to provide without external input. The intensive support offered is deemed necessary, with all elements appearing equally important. Based on additional feedback from independent researchers and engagement professionals, we also suggest the framework could be adopted at other institutions and applied to their own areas of scientific research, something which has already started to occur.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2020

Going beyond the one-off: How can STEM engagement programmes with young people have real lasting impact?

A major focus in the STEM public engagement sector concerns engaging with young people, typically through schools. The aims of these interventions are often to positively affect students' aspirations towards continuing STEM education and ultimately into STEM-related careers. Most schools engagement activities take the form of short one-off interventions that, while able to achieve positive outcomes, are limited in the extent to which they can have lasting impacts on aspirations. In this paper we discuss various different emerging programmes of repeated interventions with young people, assessing what impacts can realistically be expected. Short series of interventions appear also to suffer some limitations in the types of impacts achievable. However, deeper programmes that interact with both young people and those that influence them over significant periods of time (months to years) seem to be more effective in influencing aspirations. We discuss how developing a Theory of Change and considering young people's wider learning ecologies are required in enabling lasting impacts in a range of areas. Finally, we raise several sector-wide challenges to implementing and evaluating these emerging approaches.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2019

The Widefield Arecibo Virgo Extragalactic Survey I: New structures in the ALFALFA Virgo 7 cloud complex and an extended tail on NGC 4522

We are carrying out a sensitive blind survey for neutral hydrogen (HI) in the Virgo cluster and report here on the first 5° x 1° area covered, which includes two optically-dark gas features: the five-cloud ALFALFA Virgo 7 complex (Kent et al. 2007, 2009) and the stripped tail of NGC 4522 (Kenney et al. 2004). We discover a sixth cloud and low velocity gas that extends the velocity range of the complex to over 450 km/s, find that around half of the total HI flux comes from extended emission rather than compact clouds, and see around 150 percent more gas, raising the total HI mass from 5.1 x 10$^8$ M$_\odot$ to 1.3 x 10$^9$ M$_\odot$. This makes the identification of NGC 4445 and NGC 4424 by Kent et al. (2009) as possible progenitors of the complex less likely, as it would require an unusually high fraction of the gas removed to have been preserved in the complex. We also identify a new component to the gas tail of NGC 4522 extending to ~200 km/s below the velocity range of the gas in the galaxy, pointing towards the eastern end of the complex. We consider the possibility that NGC 4522 may be the parent galaxy of the complex, but the large velocity separation (~1800 km/s) leads us to rule this out. We conclude that, in the absence of any better candidate, NGC 4445 remains the most likely parent galaxy, although this requires it to have been particularly gas-rich prior to the event that removed its gas into the complex.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

The Structure of Halo Gas Around M33

Understanding the distribution of gas in and around galaxies is vital for our interpretation of galaxy formation and evolution. As part of the Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey (AGES) we have observed the neutral hydrogen (HI) gas in and around the nearby Local Group galaxy M33 to a greater depth than previous observations. As part of this project we investigated the absence of optically detected dwarf galaxies in its neighbourhood, which is contrary to predictions of galaxy formation models. We observed 22 discrete clouds, 11 of which were previously undetected and none of which have optically detected counterparts. We find one particularly interesting hydrogen cloud, which has many similar characteristics to hydrogen distributed in the disk of a galaxy. This cloud, if it is at the distance of M33, has a HI mass of around 10^7 Msun and a diameter of 18 kpc, making it larger in size than M33 itself.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

The Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey X: The Structure of Halo Gas Around M33

As part of the HI Arecibo Galaxy Environments Survey (AGES) we have observed 5$\times$4 degrees of sky centred on M33, reaching a limiting column density of $\sim 1.5 \times 10^{17}$ cm$^{-2}$ (line width of 10 km s$^{-1}$ and resolution 3.5\arcmin). We particularly investigate the absence of optically detected dwarf galaxies around M33, something that is contrary to galaxy formation models. We identify 22 discrete HI clouds, 11 of which are new detections. The number of objects detected and their internal velocity dispersion distribution is consistent with expectations from standard galaxy formation models. However, the issue remains open as to whether the observed velocity dispersions can be used as a measure of the HI clouds total mass i.e. are the velocities indicative of virialised structures or have they been influenced by tidal interactions with other structures in the Local Group? We identify one particularly interesting HI cloud, AGESM33-31, that has many of the characteristics of HI distributed in the disc of a galaxy, yet there is no known optical counterpart associated with it. This object has a total HI mass of $1.22 \times 10^{7}$ M$_{\odot}$ and a diameter of 18 kpc if at the distance of M33 ($D_{M33}=840$ kpc). However, we also find that there are numerous other HI clouds in this region of sky that have very similar velocities and so it is plausible that all these clouds are actually associated with debris from the Magellanic stream.

astro-ph.GA↗