Astrophysics Seminars

Thin fluid disks, found in a variety of astrophysical environments, can in general become eccentric, often as a result of interactions with orbital companions. I will discuss the dynamics of eccentric disks, focusing on their occurrence in two...

Over the past decade, observations have revealed AGN feedback in action in the form of energetic, wide-angle, galaxy-scale outflows powered by luminous quasars. These outflows are observed at essentially all wavelengths, ranging from the radio to...

The epoch of cosmic reionization is arguably the least observed epoch of cosmic history. However, the upcoming 21 cm radio interferometers and the next generation optical telescopes are on their way to shed light on the state of the IGM and the...

We have a good story, even with evidence, that all structure in the universe evolved from the diffusion of quantum-fluctuations that broke the adiabaticity of coarse-grained kinematic field trajectories during inflation. I will describe the use of...

Hydrogen and helium make up 98% of ordinary matter in the universe. These two lightest elements were created in the Big Bang. Stars fuse lighter elements into heavier ones, but this process cannot produce elements heavier than iron. A more exotic...

Black holes are responsible for a wide variety of astrophysical phenomena. They devour stars, eject relativistic jets, affect star formation and galaxy evolution, and enrich the Universe with heavy elements. I will discuss how global general...

Dark matter is necessary to explain an array of astrophysical and cosmological observations, from the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background to the dynamics of the smallest galaxies. In astrophysics, dark matter is often thought of as being...

Lyman-alpha Emitting galaxies or Lyman-alpha emitters (LAEs), star-forming galaxies selected through their strong Lyman-alpha emission, are becoming an important probe of galaxy formation, cosmic reionization, and cosmology. I will present our...

The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) was launched in June 2017 to the International Space Station (ISS) where it is studying the transient X-ray sky. NICER consists of a collection of X-ray concentrators, silicon drift detectors...