Research – Potential Projects

Below I have listed several ideas for potential student projects. The projects vary in length; some may be suitable for single-semester studies while others may be more conducive to graduate student projects. Many can be “resized” to fit other categories. I have broadly organized the projects into observational and theoretical / numerical projects, since people often prefer to work in one or the other category.

Observational

For many of those projects I already have the data needed to complete the projects, while others may require acquisition of new data.

• Global and resolved molecular gas properties of galaxy mergers (massive and dwarf galaxies)
  • relationship of gas tracers with nuclear activity (AGN and/or starburst)
  • star formation at low metallicities
• Environments of galaxies
  • Environment of mergers as a function of redshift
  • The link between molecular gas reservoirs and environment in low-mass galaxies
• The obscuration of AGN in luminous galaxies

Numerical / Theoretical

Below are projects involving numerical studies using N-body and hydrodynamic simulations; some may benefit from analytic approaches. Almost universally, these projects will involve generating and running new simulations.

• Evolution of dark matter halo profiles in galaxy mergers
• Mass-dependence of the triggering of starbursts in galaxy mergers
• “Ground-truth” of observational techniques using detailed simulations and/or toy models
  • Molecular gas mass estimators/tracers
  • Far-infrared SED characterization