About
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since 2017
Professor at LMU
Since February 2017 I am a professor for theoretical astrophysics at the LMU Munich, leading an ERC funded research group on planet formation.
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2015-2016
Postdoc at MPIA
Moving back to Germany, I worked as a postdoc with Hubert Klahr and Thomas Henning at the MPIA in Heidelberg for 1.5 years.
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2013-2015
Postdoc at CfA
I spent almost 3 years at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA working with Sean Andrews and up to today keep an affiliation with the CfA as Research Associate for ongoing projects and collaborations.
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2011-2012
Postdoc at LMU
I was postdoctoral researcher at the LMU Munich and the Excellence Cluster 'Universe' working with Barbara Ercolano.
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2007-2010
PhD in Astronomy
I got my PhD in Astronomy from the University of Heidelberg, working at the Max-Planck-Institute of Astronomy under the supervision of Kees Dullemond. Afterwards I stayed at the MPIA as a postdoc until June 2011.
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2003-2007
Studies at U. of Würzburg and State Univ. of New York
I did my undergraduate studies at the University of Würzburg, Germany and my Masters at the State University of New York at Albany.
Research
The general topic of my research is the formation of planets as well as the structure and evolution of protoplanetary disks, the birthplaces of planets. More specifically, I am working on the dynamics of solid particles in these disks and how they grow towards planets.
Young stars and the disks around them are built up from interstellar matter which contains only very small, at most micrometer-sized dust particles. This small dust is the material out of which planets form. However the mechanisms which lead to the growth along over 45 orders of magnitude in mass are still poorly understood. The aim of my work is to understand how grains can grow from small to large and how they are distributed and transported in the disk.
These results have a vast impact on planet formation, disk structure and evolution and the chemistry of protoplanetary disks. I also work together with observers in order to compare my models to observational data and thus test the theory behind them. The questions we set out to answer are the following:
- What causes the sub-structures we observe in disks? Do the disks already host planets or is something else shaping their appearance?
- How can we use observations to probe the structure and evolution of protoplanetary disks?
- Can our models help us understand features of our own solar system, such as the size distribution of chondrules found in meteorites, the isotopic composition of water, or the size of the solar system?
- How can we explain the existence of mm-sized pebbles in the outer regions of disks? How do they form and how do they migrate?
- When and where do the building blocks of planets emerge and what is their composition? Can we understand this with models based on current laboratory experiments?
- What is the size and structure of so-called dead zones, i.e., regions where the disk is predicted to be non-turbulent and what is the role of fine dust grains in this picture?
Stats
Refereed papers:
Citations:
You can download my CV or see all publications on ADS by clicking the buttons below.
Materials
Here you can download stills and animations of dust evolution simulations, latex templates, protoplanetary disk schematics. You can also find links to my codes and my Master's and PhD theses.
Disk Schematics
- Sketch of a disk with length scale:
- Similar, but with SED (after Dullemond
et al. 2007):
- Less inclination, lots of processes, svg-file with layers to adapt to your needs):
- The one used in the PPVI Review (Testi et al. 2014):
Theses
PhD thesis(August 2010)
The Evolution of Gas and Dust in Protoplanetary Accretion DisksDissertation submitted to the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the Ruperto-Carola University, Heidelberg
Download PDF (3.9 MB)
Masters Thesis (August 2007)
Bayesian Estimation of the Diffusion Tensor from diffusion weighted MRI dataThesis presented to the Faculty of the University at Albany, State University of New York
Download PDF (1.3 MB)
Research Group
Members
Dr.
Sebastian
Stammler
Postdoc
Working on dustpy (global dust evolution model), planetesimal formation, and pebble accretion.
Fabian
Binkert
PhD Student
Working on vertical and radial transport of solids with particle histories.
Thomas
Pfeil
PhD Student
Working on simplified dust growth models in multiple dimensions.
Chi Ho "Tommy"
Lau
PhD Student
Working on models of planetesimal formation & evolution.
Luca
Delussu
PhD Student
Working on disk population synthesis and MCMC fitting.
Giovanni
Tedeschi
PhD Student
Dust dynamics in lagrangian codes, vertical shear instability.
Enyi
Zhu
Intern
Vertical structure of disks & 3D printing
Andres
Zuleta
Master's student
Kinematics of Warped Disks
Former Members
- Apostolos Zormpas PhD (2023)
- Dr. Joanna Drążkowska
Postdoc (2018-2022) - Giovanni Tedeschi Master (2022)
- Sandro Paetzold Master (2022)
- Vignesh Vaikundaraman Master (2022)
- Levi Walls Master (2021)
- Matías Gárate PhD (2020)
- Anna Ivleva Bachelor (2020)
- Anirudh Sharma Master (2020)
- Sen Tian Master (2019)
- Bernat Ferrer Master (2019)
- Andreas Bartenschlager Bachelor (2019)
- Pablo Navarro Bachelor (2018)
Funding
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
LMU hosts the group and provides base funding and a PhD position.
European Research Council
The ERC project DustPrints (1.4 Million Euro) currently funds two postdocs and one PhD of the group.
Deutsche Forscher Gemeinschaft
The DFG (German Science Foundation) funds parts of the group through the Origins Cluster, individual project grants, and collaborations through our DFG Research Unit on Transition Disks.
Press & Outreach
New Frontiers in Physics
Breakthrough Prize
2024
Astrophysical
Software
Award 2020
Local
Media
20 Ring Worlds
seen with
ALMA
Planet Hunting
with
ALMA
Most Detailed
Image of
a Disk
A Dust
Clump
in HL Tau?
A Frozen
Flying
Saucer
Disk Gaps
Don't Always
Signal Planets
Inner dust ring
around star
gets supplies abroad
Popular
Science
Article
Lucky
Dust
Particles
