2023

When the densest stars in the universe (neutron star or neutron star-black hole pairs) orbit each other, they get closer due to emitted gravitational radiation. Neutron stars have a solid exterior crust that may shatter in this extreme encounters. In this project, you will explore whether the star can shatter like a glass does when a singer hits its resonant note. This depends on the properties of dense matter and, in particular, on the symmetry energy parameter that is predicted from nuclear physics.

Transient sources in the high energy (HE, GeV) and very-high energy (VHE, TeV) gamma-ray domain have turned out to be excellent laboratories to test particle acceleration, emission, and absorption processes under extreme conditions, thanks to the multiple discoveries of transient phenomena at GeV and TeV energies reported during the last decade [1].

A leading candidate to explain the existence of dark matter in the Universe is the axion, which is detectable in experiments that use resonant cavities embedded in a strong magnetic field to turn an ambient axion of the dark matter halo of the Milky Way into a resonant photon. Superconducting qubits can be used to detect these photons without absorbing them, allowing for multiple detections of the same photon with minimal noise at mK temperatures, as demonstrated by Dixit et al. 2019.

The Standard Model of Cosmology, the so-called ΛCDM model [1], is afflicted by

The solution of quantum field theories is one of the most challenging topics in modern theoretical physics. Recently, promising advances have relied on the use of variational approaches that exploit machine learning techniques [1]. These approaches encode the gauge symmetries in the architecture of neural networks [2], which provides advantages with respect to other sampling techniques [3]. Variational solutions to quantum field theories can be then exploited to find numerical solutions to these problems [4].  

The VLA Orion A Large Survey (VOLS) large project will perform the deepest survey at subarcsecond resolution of the Orion A molecular cloud with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (PI: G. Busquet, see  https://vols.fqa.ub.edu).  The superb sensitivity of the VLA combined with the large field of view of VOLS (~1 deg x 0.5 deg) requires a new strategy to identify regions of line emission. The VOLS project includes the emission lines of OH and CH3OH masers, 18 Hydrogen Radio Recombination lines and the line thermal emission of HC5N and SO molecules.

cOrion A is the nearest star-forming complex containing a broad range of environments populated by protostars and Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) with different masses and evolutionary stages, representing a testbed for star formation theories. The VLA Orion A Large Survey (VOLS, PI: G. Busquet; see https://vols.fqa.ub.edu) large project has been granted with 306 hours of observing time with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array to perform the deepest survey at subarcsecond resolution of the Orion A molecular cloud.

The formation process of stellar cluster requires a high degree of cloud fragmentation. Both simulations and observations show that cloud fragmentation leading to the formation of stellar cluster is controlled by a complex interaction of gravitational instability, turbulence, magnetic fields, cloud rotation, and stellar feedback. The infrared dark cloud G14.225-0.506 hosts two hubs harbouring two deeply embedded protoclusters.