My field of study focuses on evolved stars, specifically on transients such as stellar outbursts and supernova explosions, and their role in the life cycle of cosmic dust in the universe. I am currently a lead investigator on several James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) projects related to supernova dust.
Topical questions
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What is the origin of cosmic dust in galaxies?
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How much dust can supernovae form?
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Can supernovae be the leading producer of dust in the early universe?
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How do the massive stars evolve in their post-Main Sequence phase?
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​How is dust formed in evolved stellar environments (Red supergiants, Wolf-Rayet stars, Luminous Blue Variable stars) ?
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What is the origin of dusty torus in AGN? Can the AGN winds form new dust grains?​
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How do binary and common-envelope stars form their dusty circumstellar environment?
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What is the role of shocks in forming and destroying dust?
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How are molecules correlated to formation of dust? What are the mechanisms of grain growth in non-equilibrium environments?
In a broader perspective, my (our) research on cosmic dust intimately impacts many related areas in astronomy, from the photometric evolution of galaxies to the formation of stars and planets. The interdisciplinary nature of such research is reflected in its relevance to fields of astrophysics (explosion models, radiation transport, hydrodynamics and shocks), observational astronomy (multiwavelength spectroscopy, photometry), meteoritics (origin of presolar grains in meteorites, isotopic anomalies), mineralogy (inherent optical properties of the chemical species), quantum chemistry (energy levels, reaction pathways, structures of chemical compounds), astrobiology (non-equilibrium organic chemistry), and several others.