research

cosmological structure formation

We model the formation of dark-matter + gaseous halos and the galaxies that form inside of them, including the physics of dark matter, gas dynamics, star formation, stellar evolution, and stellar feedback.

galactic dynamics and history

We model the formation history of the Milky Way, Andromeda, and the Local Group across all of their components: dark matter halos, stellar and gaseous disks, giant molecular clouds, star clusters, stellar halos, and low-mass galaxies. We are particularly interested in the formation of galactic disks, their dynamical evolution over time, and the elemental abundance patterns in their stars.

Stellar nucleosynthesis

We model how nucleosynthesis in stars generates all (heavy) elements, and how stars enrich a galaxy like the Milky Way in these elements over time, including mixing in the interstellar medium. We are particularly interested in how to translate measurements of elemental abundances of millions of stars across the Milky Way to understand and constrain the channels of nucleosynthesis.

near-field cosmology

We use stellar and gas dynamics to measure the spatial and velocity distribution of dark matter around us, to test its particle nature.

computational methods and cosmological simulations