Astrophysics
Professor James Stone and assistant professor Roman Rafikov have received $633,000 from the National Science Foundation to explore the gas dynamics of protoplanetary disks -- swirling clouds of dust and gas that form around young stars and may develop into planets -- and the way these disks interact with existing planets. Realistic models of protoplanetary disks are difficult to develop, given the complex and diverse range of physics that must be included. In the most sophisticated attempt ever, the astrophysicists will model the motion of millions of particles to follow the mixing and settling of dust grains in the disk as well as the behavior of the gas particles. Using computational methods they developed, the team intends to provide the most realistic and accurate understanding ever of the planet formation environment.
Professors Michael Strauss and David Spergel and senior research scientist Robert Lupton were awarded $434,000 from the National Science Foundation to develop novel methods for analyzing deep imaging data of the universe. In particular, the astrophysicists will build new software tools to measure weak gravitational lensing -- a phenomenon that causes subtle distortion in the shapes of distant galaxies and is considered to be one of the best probes of "dark energy," the poorly understood effect causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate. The new software will address the significant limitations in existing tools to measure weak lensing, aiming to provide new insights into the nature of dark energy and benefit scientific studies in all areas of astrophysics.