NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) for FY 2013 in Japan

Park Hyunbae, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds Hyunbae Park of University of Texas at Austin to conduct a research project in Astronomy during the summer of 2013 at the Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU) at the University of Tokyo in Japan. The project title is "The Interaction between Star Formation and Cosmic Reionization." The host scientist is Naoki Yoshida. In order to study the universe in large scales with limited computation power, one needs to incorporate unresolvably small-scale physics into simulations in approximate ways. The epoch of reionization is an example that requires such techniques as its physics spans a wide dynamic range from the size of star forming clouds of a few parsecs (1 parsec = 3.1 x 10^13 kilometers) to the size of the ionized bubbles of the intergalactic medium of tens of megaparsecs (1 megaparsec = 3.1 x 10^19 kilometers). The current project builds on the Fellow's work as a member of Dr. Paul R. Shapiro's group, which has been developing a cosmological reionization simulation code with massively paralleled supercomputers of the Texas Advanced Computing Center. Broader impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce. Furthermore, the Fellow looks forward to sharing his experience of the program with his mentees of the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) program in the University of Texas at Austin as well as his fellow graduate students.