{"id":335,"date":"2021-06-01T07:33:59","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T11:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.broekgaarden.nl\/floor\/wordpress\/?page_id=335"},"modified":"2025-02-27T10:40:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T15:40:51","slug":"mentoring","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.broekgaarden.nl\/floor\/wordpress\/mentoring\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gravitational Wave Paleontology Lab"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Our Lab’s research focuses on Gravitational Wave Paleontology: <\/b>studying massive stars from their ‘remnants<\/em>\u2019 as compact object coalescences, with the goal to answer some of the key questions in gravitational-wave astronomy today: How do these gravitational-wave sources form? What can we learn from them about the formation, lives, and explosive deaths of massive stars across cosmic time? How do these sources help to enrich the universe with heavy metals over cosmic time?
When pairs of stellar-mass black holes and neutron stars across our vast universe collide, they unleash bursts of gravitational waves that can now be detected on Earth since the first observation of a binary black hole merger in 2015. The detectable properties of these double compact object mergers, like their masses, carry valuable information about the physics of black holes and neutron stars and probe the massive stars that once formed them. These detections open this new frontier of gravitational-wave paleontology. Making the most of these gravitational-wave observations requires comparing the observed properties of the black hole and neutron star mergers, such as their rates, masses, and spins, to theoretical models of their formation pathways. In our lab we address the key bottleneck in this endeavor: the so-called progenitor Uncertainty Challenge: uncertainties within the theoretical models are so large, and the models so computationally expensive, that learning about the underlying fundamental physical processes in massive star evolution from gravitational-wave observations is challenging.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>

We are developing new tools, methods, and simulations to improve on this and open the field of gravitational-wave paleontology and learn about the lives of massive stars across cosmic time. Our research focuses on building and understanding stellar evolution models, developing new machine learning and AI techniques to improve computational costs, understanding the formation of gravitational-wave sources across cosmic time, and understanding the star formation and enrichment histories of our Universe. The group’s research spans topics including massive stars, gravitational waves, binaries, black holes and neutron stars, stellar evolution, pulsars, astro-statistics, AI, Machine Learning, double compact object merger rates and properties, and population synthesis models — we also have a passion for projects that try to strengthen support resources for software, open data, and early-career astronomers and physicists [e.g., this<\/a> and this<\/a>].\u00a0<\/div>
\u00a0<\/div>
\u00a0<\/div>
The mentoring expectations of the group can be found here:\u00a0
https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1QGW6TzENWHwBjaXXYcUrwRB-80udnpOujCKvEbOWC6c\/edit?usp=sharing\u00a0<\/a><\/div>
\u00a0
Possible research PhD projects (ask for my full list):
GWPaleontologyGroup<\/a><\/div>
\u00a0<\/div>
\"\"<\/div>
\u00a0<\/div>
\u00a0<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
Meet the group (to be updated):\u00a0<\/b><\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Amedeo Romagnolo<\/strong> is a PhD candidate at the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre in Warsaw (Poland) and a predoc fellow\u00a0 & visitor at UCSD. His research spans from the high-energy stellar physics dominating the evolution of black hole progenitors to population synthesis of gravitational wave sources. He is also involved in the research of habitable exoplanets, from their detection to their population synthesis. He leads experiments with students from Italian high-schools. Sci-fi consultant, fantasy enthusiast and cat lover. You can find more at his website: https:\/\/sites.google.com\/view\/amedeoromagnolo\/home<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Picture\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Ana Lam, CUNY and CCA MSc Student<\/b><\/p>

Ana is a student in the CUNY\/CCA MSc program. Ana is investigating the different paths binaries can take, and studying the details of different formation channels leading to compact object binaries (BH\/NS). You can find more info on her website: https:\/\/ana-lam.neocities.org\/\u00a0<\/a><\/p>

\"Ana<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Sasha Levina, Johns Hopkins University\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

Sasha is a graduate student at JHU working on the impact from the star formation history on the rate and properties of BBH mergers<\/p>

\"\"<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Caua Rodrigues,\u00a0 Brazil\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

Caua is a high school student working on a project to understand the contribution from NS-BH mergers to the r-process enrichment of our Universe.<\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Former students & collaborators<\/strong><\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Adam Boesky January 2022 – 2024<\/h4>
\"\"

Adam Boesky<\/p><\/div>

Adam is a rising sophomore at Harvard working with me and co-supervised by Edo Berger as a PRISE\u00a0 student fellow. Adam is working on the impact from correlated uncertain parameters on the rates and properties of double compact objects as a function of redshift. Adam is presenting his work with a poster at the GMT conference on black hole physics in Arizona in September and is preparing a manuscript for publication.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

\u00a0<\/h4>

\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Simone Abeti, April 2022 – now<\/h4>
\"\"

Simone Abeti<\/p><\/div>

Simone is working on his BSc. thesis in Milano-Bicocca. He is working on the spins of binary black holes with me and Davide Gerosa as advisors. Simone will start his MSc. degree in Astronomy & Astrophysics in September 2022 in Milano-Bicocca, Italy and is presenting his work with a poster at the GMT conference on black hole physics in Arizona in September.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/h4>

\u00a0<\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Kaylie Hausknecht,\u00a0 April 2021 – now:<\/h4>

Kaylie started part time in April 2021 and has been working full time over the summer ’21 as a PRISE summer student to explore merging BH-NS and NS-NS binaries and their electromagnetic counterparts and possible contributions to r-process enrichment in our Universe. Kaylie is a Harvard student and will be continue working on this project the coming year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

A screenshot of Kaylie Hausknecht presenting some of the creative news headers from when the first NS-BH detections were announced.\u00a0<\/p>

\"\"\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Tom Wagg,\u00a0 2019-2020:<\/h4>

Together with Selma de Mink I supervised Tom Wagg on his project on BH-NS (and BH-BH and NS-NS) and their detectability in LISA.\u00a0 Tom is now starting his PhD at the University of Washington (UW).\u00a0
Thesis: https:\/\/www.tomwagg.com\/tomwagg_thesis.pdf<\/a>
Website: https:\/\/www.tomwagg.com<\/a>

<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Floris Kummer, 2019-2020<\/h4>


Lokesh Khandelwal, 2019-2020<\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Other mentoring:<\/h2>

I immensely value (peer-) mentoring programs and early-career support networks. I have contributed as a mentor to several mentoring programs and (helped) established several mentoring networks over the past years.<\/p>

I have served as a mentor in several mentor programs including:<\/p>