The curious story of supernova

• See more in My Research

• Supernova physics

  • I use (multi-dimensional) hydrodynamical simulations to model the explosion phases of a star and predict the associated chemical and optical signatures. I use observational data to constrain the explosion progenitors of observed supernovae, and learn about their mechanisms. I am intererested in Type Ia supernova, electron capture supernova, pulsational pair-instability supernova and collapsar.

• Massive star evolution and mass loss

  • I use the stellar evolution code MESA to generate and evolve massive star models with updated input physics to capture the dynamical mass loss prior to supernova explosion. I study how the wave energy transport triggers the later mass outburst. The pre-explosion model is then fed to my modeling pipeline with radiative transfer for the subsequent explosion and optical signal. Click here to see more.

• Dark matter astrophysics

  • I use stellar objects (main-sequence or compact stars) to probe the mysterious dark matter. One major impact from dark matter is that the universal Chandrasekhar mass actually depends on the dark matter admixture. We find that Type Ia supernovae with dark matter admixture can naturally explain some sub-luminous supernovae observed. Click here to see more. 

Inspired by my TA experience in CUHK, I continue to build lecture note and teaching material for topics relevant to my studies. The lecture note is an excerpt of materials I have referenced and the design of the curriculum aims at a self-consistent course where students may get the background information and build the techniques as they progress in the class. The progress is slow as I am focusing mostly on research but some nice chapters are done gradually! 

Programming (to the portal): 

• Learning Pandas from Zero 

Physics (to the portal):

• Calculus-based Physics I - mechanics

• Calculus-based Physics II - electromagnetism

• Modern Physics