Research

My primary research interest concerns galaxy formation and evolution, and how present-day properties of galaxies can be used as indicators for their formation history. As a theoretician and computational scientist, I model physical processes and study cosmological simulations to better understand the underlying physics. An important aspect for me is also appropriately comparing the modeled or simulated results to observations.

I have created the PICS (Planetary nebulae In Cosmological Simulations) framework, which models planetary nebulae (PNe) in stellar populations, which can be applied to galaxies from cosmological simulations and observations. This is the very first model that is capable of inferring PN populations in cosmological simulations. I have also developed an empirical model for globular clusters that can be applied to merger trees of cosmological simulations.

I am a part of the CAST (Computational ASTrophysics) and DRAGONS (Dynamics, enviRonment, and Assembly of Galaxies from Observations and Numerical Simulations) groups at the University Observatory Munich. Through these, I work with the hydrodynamical cosmological simulation suite Magneticum Pathfinder, which includes the largest baryonic simulation volume performed to date, and with the COMPASS suite of high-resolution hydrodynamical cosmological zoom-in simulations. I am also a part of the MAGPI collaboration (Middle Ages Galaxy Properties with Integral Field Spectroscopy), a MUSE Large Program with the aim of studying galaxies in environments around 3–4 billion years ago through spatially-resolved spectroscopy, and of the GECKOS collaboration (Generalizing Edge-on galaxies and their Chemical bimodalities, Kinematics, and Outflows out to Solar environments), a MUSE Large Program with the aim of studying edge-on disk galaxies in the local Universe through high-resolution spatially-resolved spectroscopy. Finally, I maintain the Cosmological Webportal, which provides simulation data to the scientific community via a web interface.

Fields of Research

• Kinematic tracers: planetary nebulae & globular clusters
• Galaxy shapes & kinematics
• Low-surface-brightness features in the outskirts of galaxies

More details on some of these topics can be found at the DRAGONS website.