CAREER: Reionization 2020: Fast Radiative Transfer Simulations for the Era of JWST and Extremely Large Telescopes

University Of California-Riverside, Riverside CA

Investigators

Abstract

During the Epoch of Reionization the first galaxies formed and the hydrogen gas between them was ionized. Dr. D’Aloisio and his group will develop software to simulate this epoch to better understand star formation in the earliest galaxies. Dr. D’Aloisio and a team of undergraduate students will build a radio telescope for astronomy education and outreach. They will host workshops for middle school students. The students will use the telescope to observe radio emission from clouds of atomic hydrogen gas in the Milky Way and will be guided through the analysis and interpretation of the data. This authentic experience is designed to foster a life-long interest in science. The Flexible Radiative Transfer code (FlexRT) will be an open-source fast adaptive ray tracing radiative transfer code. FlexRT will be optimized for parameter space studies with up to 1 cubic Giga-parsec volume and will use a dynamic sub-grid model to capture the effects of intergalactic absorption. The team will investigate how the properties of reionization-era galaxies relate to their cosmological environments, and how intergalactic absorption systems regulate reionization’s global morphology and evolution. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.