The search for signs of life beyond Earth is a key motivator in
exoplanet research. A suitable “biosignature gas” is one
that: can accumulate in an atmosphere against atmospheric radicals
and other sinks; has strong atmospheric spectral features...
Galaxies are at the core of nearly all modern astrophysical
studies. They serve as essential cosmological probes, tracing the
structure of the universe, while also providing the stage on which
stars form and black holes grow. Despite their...
From the collapse of molecular clouds into stars to spectacular
galactic mergers, binary systems form on many scales across the
universe. Interactions between binaries and their environments can
sculpt the stellar populations we observe today, alter...
Superradiant instabilities may create clouds of ultralight
bosons around rotating black holes, forming so-called
"gravitational atoms". In this talk, I will review a series of
papers that study the effects of a binary companion’s presence.
The...
I’ll discuss an old technique called intensity interferometry,
pioneered by Hanbury Brown and Twiss (HBT) that allows us to
achieve sub-microarcsecond angular resolution using ordinary
ground-based optical telescopes observing visible light.
This...
In this talk I will review the current state of and future
prospects for exoplanet demographics. I will walk through the
latest understanding of the frequency of Earth-like planets from
Kepler, and their implications for NASA’s next flagship
mission...
Supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies present
unsolved theoretical challenges for our understanding of
high-energy astrophysics, gravity and gravitational waves, star and
galaxy formation, and space plasma physics. For decades, our...
More than a century ago, Albert Einstein presented his general
theory of gravitation. One of the predictions of this theory is
that not only particles and objects with mass, but also the quanta
of light, photons, are tied to the curvature of space...
