Research Overview:
The bulk of my thesis work involves measuring the intrinsic stellar radial velocity “jitter” that poses a threat to the detection of low mass extrasolar planets. By calculating the intrinsic stellar jitter for a wide range of stars using data from the California Planet Search I have identified two regimes of RV jitter during the evolution of a star: an activity-dominated regime and a convection-dominated regime. With a better understanding the various components of RV jitter we can better select targets for follow-up to transit surveys and tailor our observations to mitigate various stellar effects. In the video below, you can hear me give a short summary of the motivation and a few of the preliminary results during a plenary prize talk at Cool Stars 20 in Boston.
Following this work, I have investigated low-jitter F type stars, which have typically been avoided in RV surveys. In a recently-published paper, I describe a useful metric for selecting low-jitter F stars. This metric uses our astrophysical interpretations of the jitter evolution of stars as outlined above but constrains it to readily-available observables, like those from Gaia DR2.
My current work revolves around developing a robust predictor of RV jitter based on this sample. I have constructed a Hierarchical Bayesian Framework to model the measured stellar jitter with 4 components: magnetic activity, granulation, oscillation, and instrumental. This model will be of use to estimate the various levels of intrinsic RV variability that we expect for a given star.
Undergraduate Research:
As a member of the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) through the Department of Astronomy at OSU, I worked on a project studying microlensing’s capabilities of detecting circumbinary planets. After initial work in Summer 2014, I continued to work on the project with my supervisor, Prof. Scott Gaudi, and advisor, Dr. Matthew Penny, in order to complete an undergraduate Honors Research Thesis.
More about my undergraduate work can be found at my old my OSU website.