Project:	Modeling Supernovae Beyond Shock Breakout
Disciplines:	Astrophysics, Computer Science
Mentor:	David Vartanyan, NASA Hubble Fellow, (PMA), dvartanyan@carnegiescience.edu, Phone: 8182209843
Mentor URL:	https://dvartany.github.io/  (opens in new window)
Background:	Core-collapse supernovae are the explosive, vibrant deaths of massive stars. They shape galactic evolution and power crucial nucleosynthesis. Yet, despite their importance, their explosion mechanism remained a theoretical enigma for over half a century. Only in the last decade emerged the capability to model these phenomena from the first seconds of explosion out to the first light observed from these events, days later. Given the upcoming wealth of observations of these fascinating transients with instruments like the Rubin Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope, resolving their explosion mechanism is more timely than ever.
Description:	Students will run supernovae simulations with existing software on high-performance computers. As the primary goal, students will develop and improve software capabilities to continue simulations through circumstellar material and study the late-time (many days to weeks) explosion properties and morphology. There are various directions to pursue, given progress here, that include directly modeling light curves and spectra using the SEDONA software as well as analysis and machine learning venues to handle the expansive modeled data. This SURF research project will be hosted at Carnegie Observatories, which is located roughly a mile north of Caltech campus. Carnegie hosts undergraduate research summer students from a variety of colleges and universities across California. In addition to research, Carnegie summer interns (including those from the SURF program) participate in a wide variety of professional development activities, including a coding bootcamp at the beginning of the summer, scientific communication workshops throughout the program, and seminars on issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in science. Upon successful completion of the program, all students will also be given the opportunity to attend the American Astronomical Society meeting and present their research the following January. For information about the Carnegie Summer program please visit our website: https://carnegiescience.edu/about/working/interns/cassi.
References:	https://arxiv.org/pdf/2411.03434
Student Requirements:	Students should have Python and Fortran proficiency. A background in Physics and interest in Astrophysics is encouraged. Position available to Caltech students only. Research will be conducted at Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena as part of the Carnegie Astrophysics Summer Student Internship (CASSI) program which runs from June 16th - August 22nd, 2025. Students must be present for the full duration of the program and are expected to be on campus at Carnegie daily.
Programs:	This AO can be done under the following programs:   Program    Available To        SURF    Caltech students only  Click on a program name for program info and application requirements.