Post-Doctoral Researchers
  Doctoral Students
  Masters Students
  QUARG Alumni

Faculty
	Stéphane Courteau Formation, Structure and Evolution of Galaxies Along with my students and colleagues, I study the formation, evolution, structure, and distribution of galaxies. Research topics involve our own Milky Way, stellar populations in external galaxies, galaxy dynamics, properties of field and cluster galaxies, distribution of visible and dark matter in the Universe, numerical simulations of galaxies, and testing cosmologically-motivated structure formation models. Central to my research efforts is the development of original tests to elucidate fundamental theoretical and/or empirical puzzles in extragalactic astronomy. My research also involves compiling extensive data bases for structural parameters of nearby galaxies. Through observing programs that I lead, or via collaborations, my students have access to some of the best observational research facilities worldwide.
	Martin Duncan Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems Martin Duncan, with students and colleagues, is incorporating a variety of methods to more efficiently model planet formation processes such as the interaction of large bodies ("protoplanets") amongst themselves and with a population of smaller bodies. We are now poised to tackle pressing problems which have been hitherto computationally intractable. These include extensive simulations of the mid- to late stages of the formation of Earth-like and giant planets and the influence of the planet-building process (e.g. planet migration) and the Sun's early presence in a star cluster on the structure of the outer solar system.
	David Hanes Globular Star Clusters; Observational Cosmology We are analyzing the globular cluster systems associated with external galaxies and elucidating their photometric and spatial properties. Globular clusters are the earliest-formed components of galaxies, and their nature and distribution will provide clues into the complex subject of galaxy formation and enrichment. Because the great intrinsic luminosity of globular clusters allows them to be readily seen in remote external galaxies, they are ideal cosmic distance indicators. We are developing refinements in this application as part of a comprehensive review of the extragalactic distance scale.
	Richard Henriksen Formation processes of Dark Matter Haloes; Star Formation I study the dynamical structure of cosmological dark matter halos from a theoretical point of view. Dark matter can only be detected indirectly through its gravitational effects, but it consistently appears as the most massive component of the Universe. The more recently discovered dark energy is the dominant energy component of the Universe but it does not gravitate, and models for it are in their infancy. I use a combination of theoretical analysis and numerical simulation to study the relaxation of dark matter dominated systems. This work is currently being done in conjunction with colleagues in Denmark and Spain, in addition to my team at Queen's. I am trying to understand star formation and dark matter sub-halo structure in terms of what might be called `ballistic turbulence'. This is an N-body ensemble comprised of tidally interacting hierarchically organized clumps of matter. Finally the magnetic-hydrodynamic interaction between a central star and a surrounding disc is a major unsolved problem for which I construct simple models. This also has application to star formation.
	Judith Irwin Interstellar Medium in Galaxies; Disk-Halo Connection, Galaxy Outflows Judith Irwin's research focusses on studies of the interstellar medium (ISM) in our own and other nearby galaxies. Of particular interest are the relationships between a galaxy's ISM and the surrounding intergalactic environment. Many spiral galaxies, for example, show extensive gas and dust in discrete features and halos around the stellar disk. This research attempts to determine the origin of the observed features, provide physical parameters for them, and determine the outcome of the activity. This research primarily uses the world's radio telescopes. Graduate students have gone to, or used data from, the Very Large Array in the USA, the Giant Metre-Wave Radio Telescope in India, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii, the Nobeyama mm-Wave array in Japan, the Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico, and the space-based Infra-Red Satellite Observatory and XMM Newton.
	Kayll Lake General Relativity; Computer Algebra Prof. Lake's works in general relativity and the application of general relativity to astrophysics. He is best known for his development of GRTensor, an abstract computer system for doing calculations in general relativity and string theory.
	Kristine Spekkens (RMC) Structure and Evolution of Nearby Galaxies Kristine Spekkens' research focuses on an understanding of the structure and evolution of nearby galaxies in a cosmological context. She is spearheading a variety of projects to help reconcile long-standing discrepancies between the observed properties of spiral galaxies and predictions from galaxy formation theory, and is particularly interested in developing robust techniques for inferring the distribution of dark matter in these systems. Dr. Spekkens is also involved in a large survey effort to map the distribution and kinematics of atomic hydrogen in the local Universe, which enables studies of galaxy evolution in diverse environments and searches for the "starless halos" predicted by cosmology. Dr. Spekkens' program thus affords graduate students the opportunity to carry out research with the world's largest radio and optical telescopes, and to develop new tools for interpreting the high-quality data obtained from these facilities.
	Gregg Wade (RMC) Stellar Structure and Magnetic Fields, Spectro-Polarimetry Gregg Wade's research is aimed mainly at understanding magnetic fields in stars: how they are structured, how they influence the stellar plasma in which they are embedded, how they evolve, and where they came from in the first place. His approach is primarily observational, exploiting powerful telescopes and spectropolarimetric instrumentation at observatories around the world.
	Larry Widrow Dark Matter, Galaxy Models, Extragalactic Magnetic Fields Larry Widrow works in the field of theoretical astrophysics and cosmology and has focused on problems related to the nature of dark matter, the formation of structure in the Universe, and cosmic magnetic fields. His research interests also include the structure and dynamics of disk galaxies such as the Milky Way and M31 as studied through theoretical modelling and numerical simulation. Why do some galaxies have bars? What happens when galaxies collide? What is the energy distribution of dark matter passing through a terrestrial detector? These are just some of the problems explored by Widrow and his students.

Back to top

Postdoctoral Fellows

Pascal Elahi Works with Larry Widrow and Rob Thacker (SMU) on the effects of neglect large scale power and steep power spectra in cosmological simulations, especially for small scale clustering.

Back to top

Doctoral Students

Majd Abdelqader Works with Kayll Lake Chris Capobianco Works with Martin Duncan Nathan Deg Works with Larry Widrow Cédric Grenon Works with Kayll Lake Jason Grunhut Works with Gregg Wade Joel Roediger Works with Stéphane Courteau on the Stellar Populations of Virgo Galaxies James Silvester Works with Gregg Wade. James' PhD project focuses on observational studies of magnetic and abundance structure in the atmospheres of A and B type stars. In particular, he is performing Magnetic Doppler Imaging of a sample of Ap/Bp stars using data acquired with both the ESPaDOnS instrument at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), and the new NARVAL instrument at the Pic du Midi observatory. David Puglielli Works with Larry Widrow on the stability and evolution of disk galaxies using numerical models. Future developments will include dissipative gas dynamics.

Back to top

Masters Students

Cameron Arsenault Works with Kristine Spekkens Bill Ballick Works with Kayll Lake Ainsley Campbell Works with David Hanes Jeremy Durelle Works with Dick Henriksen and Judith Irwin Daniel Foreman-Mackey Works with David Hanes and Larry Widrow Melanie Hall Works with Stéphane Courteau on the Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation of Spiral Galaxies Dmitri Lebedev Works with Kayll Lake Karen Lee-Waddell Works with Kristine Spekkens Katherine Likuski Works with Gregg Wade Amanda Schembri Works with David Hanes Matt Shultz Works with Gregg Wade Jonathan Sick Works with Stéphane Courteau on the Stellar Populations of the Andromeda Galaxy

Back to top

Alumni

Colin Folsom (MSc 2007) [PhD candidate Armagh Observatory, NI]   Guillaume Rivest (MSc 2007) [PhD candidate at Univ. of Toronto]   David Kirsh (MSc 2007) [PhD candidate at McMaster Univ.]   Andrew Calzavara (MSc 2007) [...]   Michael McDonald (MSc 2007) [PhD candidate at Univ. of Maryland]   Kelly Foyle (MSc 2007) [PhD candidate at MPIA/Heidelberg]   Jenny Power (MSc 2007) [Tutor in Kingston]   Cynthia Whaley (MSc 2007) [now in Toronto]   Sarbari Guha (PDF 2006) [Physicist in India]   Rupinder Brar (PhD 2005) [Lecturer at University of Massachusetts]   Joseph MacMillan (MSc 2006) [Lecturer at UOIT]   Douglas McNeil (PhD 2006) [PDF Queen Mary College, London]   Matthew Crosby [...]   Justin Rae (MSc 2006) [Metrologist, Govt of Canada]   Ben Tippett (MSc 2006) [PhD candidate UNB]   Ian Lepage (MSc 2004)   Nicos Pelavas (PhD 2003) [PDF Dalhousie]   David Stiff (PhD 2003)   Paul Wiegert (PDF) [Assistant Professor at Western Ontario]   Steven Bickerton (MSc 2002) [PhD candidate at McMaster]   George Davies (PhD 2002)   Mustapha Ishak (PhD 2002) [Assistant Professor at University of Texas at Dallas]   Tom Merrall (PhD 2002) [Financial Industry]   Nick Neary (MSc 2002)   Andrew Billyard (PDF 2001) [Operational Research Scientist, Ottawa]   Jayanne English (PDF 2002) [Assistant Professor at UManitoba]   Morgan LeDelliou (PhD 2001) [Research Scientist at Durham]   Kathy Perrett (PhD 2001, MSc 1995) [NSERC Fellow at UT]   Edward Thommes (PhD 2001) [CITA Fellow]   Mike Seymour (MSc 2000)   JJ Kavelaars (PhD 1997) [Astronomer at CADC]   Siow Wang Lee (PhD 1997) [PDF at Univ. of Toronto]   Man Hoi Lee (CITA National Fellow) [Research Associate at UCSB]   Xiangdong Shi (PDF)   Jeroen Stil (PDF) [PDF at Univ. of Calgary]   L. Jonathan Dursi (MSc 1996) [CITA Fellow]   Gil Holder (MSc 1996) [Assistant Professor at McGill]