Prof Peter Coles

Theoretical Physics

Science Building, North Campus
Ground floor
1.7c
(01 708) 3775

Biography

I am a theoretical astrophysicist and my research is in the area of cosmology and the large-scale structure of the Universe.

I was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in England and educated at its Royal Grammar School. After that I went to Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge to study Natural Sciences, eventually specializing in Theoretical Physics. After graduation I started a doctorate in the Astronomy Centre at the University of Sussex under the supervision of Prof. John D  Barrow. After completing my DPhil in 1988, I stayed for two years in Sussex as a postdoctoral research fellow. I then moved  to London, where I held a number of positions in the School of Mathematical Sciences at what is now Queen Mary, University of London. I was awarded an SERC Advanced Fellowship in 1993 which I held for five years during which I was promoted to the position of Reader.

In 1998 I was appointed Professor of Astrophysics in the School of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Nottingham, a position I took up on 1st January 1999. I helped set up an Astronomy group there, and stayed about eight years in Nottingham until, in 2007, I moved to a position as Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University. From February 2013 until the end of July 2016 I was Head of the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Sussex  In 2016 I returned to Cardiff in a part-time capacity split between the School of Physics & Astronomy  and the Data Innovation Research Institute. In 2017 decided to move to Ireland to take up my current position at Maynooth.

Books

  Year Publication
2010 From Cosmos to Chaos: The Science of Unpredictability.
Coles, P (2010) From Cosmos to Chaos: The Science of Unpredictability. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Details]
2002 Cosmology: The Origin and Evolution of Cosmic Structure.
Coles, P; Lucchin, F (2002) Cosmology: The Origin and Evolution of Cosmic Structure. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. [Details]
2001 Cosmology: A Very Short Introduction.
Coles, P (2001) Cosmology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
2017 'The integrated bispectrum and beyond'
Munshi, D.; Coles, P. (2017) 'The integrated bispectrum and beyond'. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2017 (2) [DOI] [Details]
2016 'Extracting the late-time kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect'
Munshi, D.; Iliev, I. T.; Dixon, K. L.; Coles, P. (2016) 'Extracting the late-time kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect'. Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 463 (3):2425-2442 [DOI] [Details]
2016 'Lensing-induced morphology changes in CMB temperature maps in modified gravity theories'
Munshi, D.; Hu, B.; Matsubara, T.; Coles, P.; Heavens, A.F. (2016) 'Lensing-induced morphology changes in CMB temperature maps in modified gravity theories'. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, (4) [DOI] [Details]
2016 'Galaxy clustering in 3D and modified gravity theories'
Munshi, D.; Pratten, G.; Valageas, P.; Coles, P.; Brax, P. (2016) 'Galaxy clustering in 3D and modified gravity theories'. Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 456 (2):1627-1644 [DOI] [Details]
2015 'Testing modified gravity with cosmic shear'
Harnois-Déraps, J.; Munshi, D.; Valageas, P.; van Waerbeke, L.; Brax, P.; Coles, P.; Rizzo, L. (2015) 'Testing modified gravity with cosmic shear'. Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 454 (3):2722-2735 [DOI] [Details]
2014 'Tomography and weak lensing statistics'
Munshi, D.; Coles, P.; Kilbinger, M. (2014) 'Tomography and weak lensing statistics'. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2014 (4) [DOI] [Details]
2014 'Reionization and CMB non-Gaussianity'
Munshi, D.; Corasaniti, P. S.; Coles, P.; Heavens, A.F. Pandolfi, S. (2014) 'Reionization and CMB non-Gaussianity'. Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 442 (4):3427-3442 [DOI] [Details]
2014 'Probing modified gravity theories with ISW and CMB lensing'
Munshi, D.; Hu, B.; Renzi, A.; Heavens, A.F.; Coles, P. (2014) 'Probing modified gravity theories with ISW and CMB lensing'. Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 442 (1):821-837 [DOI] [Details]
2014 'Cross-correlating Sunyaev-Zel'dovich and weak lensing maps'
Munshi, D; Joudaki, S; Coles, P; Smidt, J; Kay, S.T. (2014) 'Cross-correlating Sunyaev-Zel'dovich and weak lensing maps'. Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 442 (1):69-91 [DOI] [Details]

Other Journals

  Year Publication
2017 'Building baby universes'
Coles, P. (2017) 'Building baby universes' Physics World, 30 (8) :34-35. [DOI] [Details]
2014 'Planck Perspectives'
Coles, P. (2014) 'Planck Perspectives' Physics World, 27 (1) :24-30. [DOI] [Details]

Research Paper

  Year Publication
2016 Dynamical Analysis of Scalar Field Cosmologies with Spatial Curvature.
Gosenca, M; Coles, P (2016) Dynamical Analysis of Scalar Field Cosmologies with Spatial Curvature. Research Paper [DOI] [Details]