Research

Current Research Interests

I am primarily interested in using gravitational wave detectors to learn about astrophysical sources. However, due to the lack of low-frequency gravitational wave observatories, my current interests are on using electromagnetic observations of gravitational wave sources to learn more about them prior to the launch of LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, which will hopefully start detecting such systems after its launch in 2018

There are two such sources one can study using electromagnetic observations. First, supermassive black hole binaries are the the result of galaxy mergers. Their descent to final merger is poorly understood and we are hoping to obtain a better idea of the dynamics and timescales involved by obtaining more observations of such systems.

The second such type of source, and the one that I am actively studying, are the ultra compact white dwarf binary systems. Specifically, I am looking for detached white dwarf binaries, short period cataclysmic variables, and AM CVns. We are currently using the Palomar Transient Factory - a survey for transient and varying sources - to discover more of these systems by searching for examples of these systems that are eclipsing. We also hope to look at the long-term data from PTF to look for such systems in outburst.

Past Research Projects

From June 2006 until August 2007 I was a member of the Spitzer/IRS group at Cornell University. I was primarily involved in the development of data reduction software - primarily SMART and the beginnings of its Python successor, PySMART. I also worked a bit on Spitzer/IRS and Palomar/Hale spectroscopic data.

During my summer as an REU student at the LIGO Hanford Observatory I worked under Dr. Keita Kawabe on optical simulations. Because of mirror imperfections, the laser beam in LIGO generally changes shape slightly. Unfortunately, this reduces the signal and Dr. Kawabe made an attempt to build and install an output mode cleaner to remove the offending noise. However, it actually decreased the quality of the signal and my summer project was to attempt to understand why it increased the noise instead of decreasing.

I also spent a summer at Notre Dame where I worked with Professor John Poirier on a redesign of the data acquisition system of his Project GRAND muon telescope.

Finally, as an undergraduate I spent a considerable amount of time taking computer science courses. As a result of that effort, a friend and I were asked by Professor Keshav Pingali and Professor David Schwartz to software for the CS212 Java Practicum Course. The software simulated a simple stack based computer that exposed students to assembly language in an easier fashion than starting with a complicated real-world architecture. The project was a success and we were asked to stay on as teaching assistants for the course until we graduated.