Astrophysics

The evolution of planets and planetary systems depends on the environments created by their host stars in a number of ways.  In this talk, I will discuss several observable impacts of stellar winds, radiation pressure, and non-thermal ionizing...

Abstract: We discuss relaxation solutions to the dark matter - baryon coincidence problem in the context of QCD axion dark matter. In relaxation solutions, a moduli dynamically adjusts the mass of dark matter and baryons until their energy densities...

Massive black holes (MBHs) exist at the centers of many dense star systems, particularly in galactic nuclei.  Steady accretion onto MBHs powers active galactic nuclei, but dynamical processes near MBHs can generate various forms of transient...

I will present a program of extracting cosmological information by combining effective field theory (EFT) techniques with data from spectroscopic galaxy surveys. I will highlight previous successes of this program and share recent results, including...

Abstract: Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations of M87* provide a means of constraining parameters of both the black hole and its surrounding plasma. However, intrinsic variability of the emitting material introduces a major source of...

Abstract: Recently a fruit fly brain was reconstructed in electron microscopic detail. Tens of millions of synapses were identified on over 100,000 neurons' entangled branches, which would span a football field if unraveled end to end. This "fly...

In the era of high-dimensional data and simulation-based science, machine learning is transforming the different stages of the scientific method in astrophysics. I will present a summary of my research connected to generative models in two main...

Recent breakthroughs in gravitational wave and electromagnetic observations have given better and better insights into black holes and extreme gravity. While one usually thinks of black holes as the unyielding final state of gravitational collapse...

Abstract: Black holes (BHs) can acquire magnetosphere and horizon-penetrating magnetic fluxes from plasma inflow or mergers with magnetized neutron stars. Several numerical studies have shown that a black hole magnetosphere relaxes into a split...

Abstract: As the LHC moves into its high-luminosity era, discovery potential will hinge not just on data volume, but on the intelligence of real-time selection systems. The CMS experiment processes petabytes of data every second, using an FPGA-based...