The folks in our group work on a diverse range of problems in theoretical galaxy formation, with major themes being the formation of the first galaxies in the Universe, the complex interplay between interstellar medium physics and galaxy evolution, and methods at the intersection of AI and large scale simulations.
I’m grateful to the US National Science Foundation, NASA, Space Telescope Science Institute, Research Corporation, and Astraeus Institute for funding our group’s research. This said, the words here are my own, and do not reflect the opinions of my funding agencies.
The formation of the first galaxies in the Universe.
JWST and ALMA have revolutionized our understanding of the very first formed galaxies, when the Universe was a small fraction of its current age. Our group is involved in a range of projects aimed at understanding the physics of primordial galaxy formation, including modeling the initial enrichment of interstellar molecules and dust grains, the co-evolution of stellar feedback and global galaxy processes, and the growth of massive starburst galaxies within the first billion years. We use a range of techniques, including large box cosmological simulations, more targeted zoom-ins of individual galaxies, and techniques sitting at the intersection of massive simulations, observational inference, and artificial intelligence.
Major Research Areas
The complex interplay between ISM physics and galaxy evolution.
The physics of the interstellar medium (the stuff between the stars) is an essential (perhaps the essential) element of studying galaxy evolution across cosmic time. Our group is involved in developing evermore realistic models for interstellar chemistry, radiative transfer, and the physics of dust formation, growth, and destruction in galaxies. In recent years, a significant amount of our collective energy has gone toward developing some of the most state-of-the-art models for the evolution of dust and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (i.e., complex interstellar molecules…these are usually what the prettiest JWST images you tend to see are) in galaxies across cosmic time.
High Performance Computing and AI x Computational Astrophysics
The bulk of our research employs large scale numerical simulations that deploy on massive supercomputers. At the University of Florida, we are fortunate to have access to the HiPerGator supercomputing facility. I’m a big proponent of open source software development: in particular, I am the lead developer and maintainer of the Powderday radiative transfer package for galaxy-wide dust radiative transfer. This code enables a quantitative synergy between theoretical astrophysics and bona fide observations.
In recent years, our group has invested quite a few cycles on the advancement of simulation based inference I(SBI) AI techniques. SBI is an exciting technique that we are applying to astrophysical simulations of galaxy evolution in order to develop ultraprecise methods for deriving galaxy physical properties from observations.