Galaxy and Black Hole Evolution in the Early Universe
Galaxy and Black Hole Evolution in the Early Universe
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An artist's representation of CAPERS-LRD-z9, the earliest confirmed BLAGN, just 500 million years after the Big Bang.
Image credit: Erik Zumalt, The University of Texas at Austin.
My research interests center on the evolution (and co-evolution) of galaxies and their supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the early universe. Since its launch in 2022, JWST has revolutionized this field, and I consider myself very fortunate to be able to work on and specialize in JWST spectroscopic observations.
My research interests center on the evolution (and co-evolution) of galaxies and their supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the early universe. Since its launch in 2022, JWST has revolutionized this field, and I consider myself very fortunate to be able to work on and specialize in JWST spectroscopic observations.
While pursuing my Ph.D at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I focused on Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies (LAEs) in the Epoch of Reionization selected via wide field narrowband imaging from Subaru/HSC, and confirmed with Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopy. These objects are incredible probes of reionization, as Lyman-alpha is especially sensitive to the the neutral fraction of the Intergalactic Medium.
While pursuing my Ph.D at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I focused on Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies (LAEs) in the Epoch of Reionization selected via wide field narrowband imaging from Subaru/HSC, and confirmed with Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopy. These objects are incredible probes of reionization, as Lyman-alpha is especially sensitive to the the neutral fraction of the Intergalactic Medium.
As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, I specialize in detecting and analyzing Broad-line Active Galactic Nuclei (BLAGN) in the early universe with observations from JWST/NIRSpec. BLAGN in the early universe are particularly interesting, as the Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs) associated with systems have very little time to grow and evolve at high-redshift. This allows us to place constraints on black hole growth and seeding at early epochs.
As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, I specialize in detecting and analyzing Broad-line Active Galactic Nuclei (BLAGN) in the early universe with observations from JWST/NIRSpec. BLAGN in the early universe are particularly interesting, as the Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs) associated with systems have very little time to grow and evolve at high-redshift. This allows us to place constraints on black hole growth and seeding at early epochs.
An apparent subset of these BLAGN are the Little Red Dots (LRDs): a new class of objects first discovered with JWST. These unexpected objects show a unique combination of blue ultraviolet continuum slopes and red optical continuum slopes, and a large fraction show broad Balmer emission lines: a strong BLAGN tracer. In collaboration with the CAPERS team, I recently led a paper presenting the highest-redshift yet known LRD and BLAGN: CAPERS-LRD-z9. This object shows evidence of a 38 million solar mass SMBH present only 500 million years after the Big Bang (depicted above).
An apparent subset of these BLAGN are the Little Red Dots (LRDs): a new class of objects first discovered with JWST. These unexpected objects show a unique combination of blue ultraviolet continuum slopes and red optical continuum slopes, and a large fraction show broad Balmer emission lines: a strong BLAGN tracer. In collaboration with the CAPERS team, I recently led a paper presenting the highest-redshift yet known LRD and BLAGN: CAPERS-LRD-z9. This object shows evidence of a 38 million solar mass SMBH present only 500 million years after the Big Bang (depicted above).
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