Title: The Production and Dispersal of Heavy Elements in the Early Universe Abstract: In the first billion years after the Big Bang, early generations of stars produced light which ionized intergalactic gas, and the first heavy elements of the periodic table via nuclear fusion and neutron capture. Infrared observations of quasars in…
Title: Star Formation in the Galactic Center: The Role of Radiative Feedback Abstract: The presence of young, massive stars around the central black hole of the Milky Way suggests a substantial mass inflow event to the Galactic Center approximately 3-6 million years ago. Numerical models of gas inflow toward a supermassive black hole show…
Title: Gas Flows in the Milky Way Halo Abstract: Gas flows play crucial roles in galaxy evolution. Inflowing gas provides fuel for new star formation, while outflowing gas carries away the chemically-enriched products from earlier generations of stars. In the Milky Way, we have a front-row seat for viewing the multi-phase gas flows that circulate…