Research

In the realm of binary systems, I have focused on the interactions between stars and their companions as well as stars and their environments. My last work looks at binary systems comprised of a star and a stellar mass black hole. I looked at the increase in the accretion of metals from the ISM onto the stellar companion in order to look for potential observable markers of heightened accretion. We find that old stars in binaries can potentially increase their observable metallicity from ISM accretion alone.

One of my topics of interest is the interactions between stars over the course of their evolution. In this work, I look at common envelope evolution combined with stellar evolution and the dynamics of binary systems. I simulated a hierarchical triple systems by placing binary inside of a common envelope and evolving it with a hydrodynamics code (FLASH). I analyzed different stages of stellar evolution using MESA code to figure out the conditions for envelope ejection and inspiraling of a single object.

As part of Dr. Alexander P Petroff’s Lab at Clark University, I studied the individual and collective dynamics of Magnetoglobus multicellularis, a species of bacteria that moves through the process of magnetotaxis. I worked on nullifying the magnetic field of the Earth by using a triaxial Helmholtz coil system, used Matlab to do video analysis of bacteria swimming and worked on developing a protocol to collect and clean samples of bacterial samples. I compared the collective arrangement of bacteria colonies to a liquid crystal of active matter with self assemblance.