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

Fiorenza Stephanie L, West New York NJ

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds Stephanie Lynn Fiorenza of CUNY Graduate Center to conduct a research project in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences area during the summer of 2013 at Nagoya University in Nagoya, Chubu, Japan. The project title is "Infrared-Bright Galaxies: The Connection Between Starbursts and Active Galactic Nuclei." The host scientist is Tsutomu T. Takeuchi. The evolutionary connection between nuclear starbursts and active galactic nuclei (AGN) in luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), which form from galaxy interactions and produce the bulk of their radiation as infrared (IR) emission, is not well understood. To this effort, this project examines 12 U/LIRGs within the IRAS 2 Jy Redshift Survey. This project classifies the primary source of IR radiation as being a nuclear starburst or a type of AGN by using key emission line ratios and then performs spectral decompositions on IR spectra to quantify the contributions of the starbursts and/or AGN to their host galaxies' IR luminosity (LIR). Finally, this project uses the CIGALE (Code Investigating GALaxy Emission) to measure starburst ages. Comparing the starburst ages with the IR-power source classifications and starburst/AGN contributions reveals which type of IR-power source forms first and how starburst age varies with starburst/AGN strength in U/LIRGs. 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. The Fellow is the first doctoral astrophysics student in at least two decades to be enrolled at the City University of New York (CUNY), an urban minority-serving institution, and she hopes to help expand the program by encouraging others, including students in Japan, to enroll as doctoral students in astrophysics. Furthermore, the Fellow is a co-chair of CUNY Women in STEM, and will promote careers in science and technology to women by sharing her experience as an EAPSI participant at STEM-sponsored events. Finally, the Fellow will use the EAPSI experience to inform work teaching a college-leel astronomy course for Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Summer Programs.