Projects

Plasmas are gases composed of charged particles that respond to fields electromagnetic. The solar wind is a turbulent plasma that is generated in the solar corona and expands covering the solar system. Magnetic reconnection is a phenomenon in el which the magnetic field is configured while the plasma particles gain energy kinetic and thermal. Although several methods have been proposed to identify events de magnetic reconnection, its application in 3D turbulence simulations is limited. In this project the studentwill explore the effectiveness of the MFT method (flow transport magnetic) to find magnetic reconnection events en 3D turbulence simulations.

Most stars, including the Sun, form in regions with extreme environments due to the massive stars present in them. Thanks to JWST we can, for the first time, study proto-planetary disks around stars like the Sun in regions of massive star formation. In this project we are going to study the impact of extreme environments on the formation of planets. The study will consist of analyzing infrared spectra recently obtained with the MIRI instrument at JWST to determine the physical and chemical properties of proto-planetary disks located close to some of the most massive stars in the Galaxy.

 

Lower-mass stars exhibit significant changes in their internal structure and atmospheric properties, relative to more massive solar-mass dwarfs, revealing interesting new effects in stellar astrophysics. These stars, and their brown dwarf cousins, often display flashing behavior and photometric variations in broadband optical monitoring. These signatures are indicative of significant magnetic activity, which may have implications for the habitability of planets around these stars, now a focus of study with facilities like the James Webb Space Telescope. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission provides a unique opportunity to examine how that activity might change on multi-year time scales. By studying photometric light curves, measuring flare, periodic variability, and photometric morphology, and then comparing between different epochs, we can determine how magnetism behaves in this population on multi-year time scales and whether those changes can play an important role in defining the environments. experiences of the planets around the smallest stars.

The LCDM standard cosmological model has provided a good description of a wide range of astrophysical and cosmological data over the past two decades. However, with the remarkable evolution of recent data accuracy, various stresses and anomalies have put the LCDM model in trouble. Currently, the most significant tension occurs between the value of the Hubble constant (H0), measured by the distance scale with Cepheid variables to calibrate type Ia supernovae, and the value inferred from CMB observations. The so-called H0 stress has recently passed the 5 standard deviation threshold, essentially ruling out the possibility of statistical fluke. Even in the context of the LCDM model, Planck's CMB measurements are in high statistical tension with the S8 values inferred by a series of measurements of faint lensing and galaxy clusters. In particular, these two tensions have moved the community in search of possible solutions for these problems in the LCDM paradigm. Other anomalies have also emerged recently, for example, the CMB asymmetries, the BAO Ly-alpha tension, the age of the Universe, the CMB-lensing anomaly, the Hubble diagram tension of quasars, among others. This project aims to explore solutions to recent cosmological stresses, focusing primarily on the H0 and S8 stresses. To do this, we will explore the possibility of some new physics beyond the LCDM model, as well as, where necessary and relevant, the role of the systematic effect in the samples used to investigate such anomalies. At the data level, we will start by focusing on data from the Planck, BOSS, DES, and KIDS experiments.

Theoretical models suggest that the movements of the fall of the material necessary to form a new star occur through an accretion disk. However, there is still no solid observational evidence to confirm this hypothesis for very high mass stars (>50 M_sol). For this reason we have been studying in depth the protostellar sourceG45.47+00.05which is driving a strong bipolar flow produced by thermal pressure. In turn, there are indications of a possible coexistence of this system with a highly energetic jet. If so, this very high-mass protostar would still be accreting material despite the strong feedback caused by photoionization. Using highly sensitive observations of theVery Large Array, with this project we seek confirm the existence of accretion in this source by providing observational evidence of the accretion disk hypothesis in very high mass stars.

L1527 is a dark cloud located in the Taurus molecular complex (d 140 pc), probably in an intermediate stage of its evolution. This source is considered rich in carbon molecules, a fact that makes it an interesting object for the search and identification of organic molecules of prebiotic interest. Recently, many observational studies have been devoted to understanding the changes at the molecular level that arise in forming stellar objects. Thanks to these spectral surveys, it is evident that the molecular complexity of these sources, including our solar system, can be inherited from the early phases of star formation. In this project, we will use different observations taken by the IRAM 30m radio telescope, covering the spectral window from 72 to 276 GHz, with the aim of identify simple and complex molecular species that include atoms important to life or CHONS-like molecules.