Projects

The study of our chemical origins, in order to explain the pathways that led to the formation of living organisms, is a question that has intrigued us for centuries. However, we still do not know exactly what are the synthesis mechanisms that lead to the formation of complex molecules from the effective combination of simpler atoms and molecules. Ethanolamine (NH2CH2CH2OH), a complex organic molecule of prebiotic importance, was recently identified in a molecular cloud in the interstellar medium where stars form. Ethanolamine is also known to be a phospholipid precursor molecule, one of the main components of the cell membrane. This statement implies that in the early stages of formation of stellar objects (like that of our Sun), molecules important for life, such as ethanolamine, could have been transported from the protosolar nebula to smaller planetary objects and, subsequently, to our planet. Taking these premises into account, it is necessary to understand how different environments can help transform a molecule in the interstellar medium. In this case, we propose the experimental study of the interaction of a photon flow in the ultraviolet with the ethanolamine molecule, inducing its ionization and dissociation. Our goal is to understand the pathways of molecular fragmentation and to determine the stability of the molecule in circumstellar environments, such as in the photodissociation region of a given astrophysical object. The mass spectra of the ionic fragments to be analyzed were acquired at the National Synchrotron Light Laboratory in Campinas-Brazil.
[1] https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2101314118
Figure credits: Víctor M. Rivilla & Carlos Briones (Astrobiology Center, CSIC-INTA) / NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, IRAC4 camera (8 microns). Taken from the page www.iram-institute.org.

This project will allow us to link the different observed structures (disk, bar, spiral arms, rings, etc.) to their specific evolutionary history — reflecting a history of past mergers that led to a complete restructuring of the system (as is the case with elliptical galaxies). ) and/or slower evolutionary processes that include gas accretion from satellite galaxies (or from the intergalactic medium itself) and internal gas transport. The student will manipulate the data to create color maps (gr, gz), highlighting more "blue" and more "red" regions in galaxies that point to differences associated with age and star formation activity, among other characteristics. Diagnostic graphs (from literary research) that reveal information about the level of star formation activity, dust extinction, etc. will also be explored. The immediate goal is to distinguish the stellar populations that characterize the different stellar structures commonly identified in galaxies (eg, disk, bulge, bar, spiral arms). Various computational tools will be used, including SAOImage ds9, Jupyter Notebooks, and potentially more elaborate tools (eg, LePhare, Cigale). Experience with python is strongly desirable as a starting point.

 

One of the most important enigmas of the current cosmological scenario is the discrepancy between the model-independent estimate of the Hubble constant from Cepheid Variables/Supernovae-Ia and its value inferred from the power spectrum of Cosmic Radiation fluctuations. Fund (CMB) assuming the LCDM model. A promising method to obtain evidence in favor of one of these values is to use non-parametric regressions to estimate the expansion rate of the universe at z=0. In this project, we will apply the non-parametric reconstruction method known as Gaussian Processes to BAO anisotropic signals using simulations or existing data comparable to LSST (for example, public HSC survey data) to obtain a model-independent estimate of the rate of current expansion from the distribution of galaxies.

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https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=es&user=-GtF3Y4AAAAJ

The Vera Rubyn Observatory will have unique capabilities to measure the distribution of dark matter around the Milky Way, as its high sensitivity will allow it to observe the most distant stars in the galaxy. These distant stars occupy regions where  most of the dark matter in galaxies, so its movement has unique information about how dark matter is distributed in the galaxy. Recent studies have shown that the Milky Way's dark matter is being disturbed by recent interaction with the Large Magellanic Cloud. As a result of this disturbance, a "wake" stream of dark matter is expected to be following the Large Magellanic Cloud. Such a stream of dark matter has been tentatively detected observationally (Conroy et al., 2021), thus opening a new possibility to understand the nature and properties of dark matter. In this project we will use synthetic observations that model how the Vera Rubin Observatory would observe the stellar halo of  cosmological simulations (FIRE)  of the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud. The main objective is to test different numerical algorithms that allow detecting the "wake" in the synthetic observations of the simulations and thus predict if it can be detected in the observations of the Vera Rubin observatory. To be able to determine the conditions and observational data necessary to be able to detect the wake. “wake” in the observations of the Milky Way that the Vera Rubin observatory is going to carry out.

Planets are born from disks made of gas and dust that revolve around young stars, known as circumstellar disks. Because most stars are part of binary systems, they can interact with the disks of their companions, disrupting the process of planet formation. In this project we will study the disks of the HT  Lup system, a system composed of 3 young stars that orbit each other. The study will consist of analyzing very high angular resolution observations obtained with the ALMA telescope to establish how the material is distributed in each disk.

As part of the characterization of the Rubin Observatory camera, data has been taken in a
laboratory environment in which the focal plane of the camera has been exposed to uniform illumination. The intensity of the illumination (flux) was then steadily increased and, at the same time, the intensity was monitored by a calibrated photodiode. In this way, we can make curves of the response of the CCD detector as a function of the flux. Since this response is not completely linear,
we correct small deviations from linearity using a “linearizer”, which is a function that tells us the true intensity of the illumination based on the detector signal. There is a different linearizer for each camera segment, and since there are 189 CCDs with 16 segments each, there are 3024 different linear functions. This project consists of studying the process of generating linearizers and recommending possible improvements.

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As part of the characterization of the Rubin Observatory camera, data has been taken in a
laboratory environment in which the focal plane of the camera has been exposed to uniform illumination.
The intensity of illumination (flux) was then steadily increased and, at the same time, the intensity was monitored by a calibrated photodiode. In this way, we can elaborate PTCs
of the CCD as a function of the flux (variance vs. flux or signal). There is a different PTC for each segment of
camera, and since there are 189 CCDs with 16 segments each, there are 3024 different PTCs. This project consists of studying the generation process of each PTC and recommending possible improvements.

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In this project we will use artificial intelligence tools to study if we can predict certain properties associated with galaxies, such as their stellar mass, their metallicity, their luminosity…etc, based on other galactic properties. For this, we will use galaxies from the CAMELS simulations, which contain more than 1 million galaxies from thousands of hydrodynamic simulations.

Currently, the imSim software package can generate simulated stellar images from the 3.25 Gigapixel camera that function as simulated data to test the Vera Rubin Telescope's future data reduction procedures. For this project, the student will generate synthetic images of highly populated star fields, which would be expected when in regions of the galactic plane and bulge. These simulations will be compared with astrometric simulations of the Milky Way generated by the BeSSeL survey in the galactic plane. The resulting images could be used to test the astrometry and photometry of the Vera Rubin Telescope. The results of this project will be essential to address a priority established by the LSST Stars, Milky Way & Local Volume Science Collaboration, that is, photometry and astrometry in stellar fields.