Research
Below are some of the main topics I have worked on so far, a full list of publications can be found here.
power spectra of cosmic dust
In our paper, we estimate the cross-power spectrum between mid-infrared (MIR) and sub-milimeter wavelength observations of 15% of the sky to infer the spatial correlations of cosmic dust (specifically for MIR-bright polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs, and sub-micron sized grains). Taking WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) and ACT (Atacama Cosmology Telescope) observations, we characterize dust foregrounds. We find that dust power spectra do not follow a single power law slope, we detect the first significant cross correlation between the "cosmic PAH background" and the cosmic infrared background, and infer significant alignment between dust filaments and galactic magnetic fields down to sub-parsec scales.
photometric quasar clustering
Using projected clustering statistics, we study the relationship between accreting black holes and galaxies, in order to learn about the dark matter halo masses occupied by the active galaxies and their black holes. We use machine learning techniques to identify a Hyper-Suprime Camera (HSC)-observed sample of ~ 34,000 quasars and examine how often they are near to one of ~ 1.7 million luminous red galaxies; this spatial correlation relates directly to the halo mass. Interestingly, we find a relationship between how dusty the active galaxy is and how massive is its halo, with the unobscured quasars residing in halos that are four-five times more massive than those around their obscured conterparts. This points us to think quasars may have more elaborate formation histories than what we already thought we knew.
spectroscopic follow-up of quasar clustering
We currently study the real-space spatial correlations between spectroscopically-observed Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) by combing our HSC-derived quasar sample with Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey validation data. With this new information, we have precise redshifts and emission lines with which we can confirm the AGN classification. We're wrapping up the last steps of the analysis and are excited to share more in the coming months.
solar alignments in ancestral monumental architecture
Following from my time doing an MPhil in Archaeology of the Americas, I work on short projects that interface Archaeology and Astrophysics to learn more about the ways ancestral Indigenous communities embedded their knowledge of the sky into the structures they made. Our project identifying and interpreting a set of solar alignments in classic and pre-classic Mesoamerican monumental architecture is currently in review and we are excited to share the results soon!