Patrick C. Breysse
James Arthur Postdoctoral Fellow, NYU Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics
About Me
I am a James Arthur Postdoctoral Fellow at the NYU Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, where I study cosmology and galaxy evolution. My work primarily focuses on exciting new line intensity mapping surveys, which provide a new window into subjects ranging from the large-scale structure of the universe to the interstellar media of high-redshift galaxies. I spend most of my time modeling signals for upcoming intensity mapping experiments, developing new analysis techniques to extract useful physics from them, and analyzing and interpreting their data as it becomes available.
Contact
Office
726 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
Email
pb2555 [at] nyu [dot] edu
Curriculum Vitae
Education
Johns Hopkins University
Ph.D. Physics and Astronomy, 2012-2017
Thesis Supervisor: Marc Kamionkowski
The Pennsylvania State University
B.S. Physics, B.S. Astronomy and Astrophysics
Thesis Supervisor: L. Samuel Finn
Research
Experimental Collaborations
COMAP
The Carbon Monoxide Mapping Array Project seeks to map star-forming gas during the era of galaxy assembly around redshift 3 through intensity mapping of CO lines. Science observations began in 2019 at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory. Future upgrades will allow mapping of CO lines during the Epoch of Reionization. I have been leading the COMAP science and modeling working group since 2018.
In Fall 2021 we released early science results from the first season of COMAP observations.
FYST
The Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope, currently under construction in the Atacama Desert in Chile, will among other fascinating science produce intensity maps of the CII cooling line during the Epoch of Reionization. I have also proposed a way to use contaminating CO foreground lines from this survey to probe quasar feedback at lower redshifts. I am a member of the FYST science working group.
EXCLAIM
The Experiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping is a balloon-based intensity mapping experiment designed to measure CII at redshift 3 and various CO transitions at lower redshifts through cross-correlations with BOSS galaxy maps. EXCLAIM is currently under construction at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. I am a member of the EXCLAIM science and analysis team.
Outreach
I consider public outreach and education to be one of my most important jobs as a professional astronomer. Here is a small sampling of outreach events I have participated in over the last few years.
JHU Portable Planetarium
My fellow students and I at Johns Hopkins constructed a portable planetarium for outreach events throughout Baltimore City. I and others created custom shows for the planetarium using the free AAS WorldWide Telescope software. See the JHU Outreach page for current planetarium events, as well as many other exciting demos, talks, and other events in Baltimore
Public Talks
I've given a number of public talks through the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto. In 2020, outreach events had to go virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and I gave two talks as part of the Cosmos from your Couch series, one linked above and a second on Cosmic Dawn. I have also spoken at the University of Toronto AstroTours and Astronomy on Tap events