Overview
We develop and apply theoretical and numerical models to investigate protostellar and protoplanetary disks, star and planet formation, and long-term evolution of exoplanetary systems to compliment existing and forthcoming astronomical observations.
Areas of Interest
Software Development
In addition to designing and employing large-scale numerical simulations to both understand dynamical processes and compare with observations, we develop and contribute to the following widely-used, open-source astrophysical codes:
- Athena++: GRMHD code with adaptive mesh refinement framework
- MAGRATHEA: planet structure code with fully differentiated interiors
- Huang C., Rice D. R., Steffen J. H., 2022, MNRAS, 513, 5256
- Pencil Code: high-order finite-difference code for compressible hydrodynamic flows with magnetic fields
- PGNets: convolutional neural network to infer planet masses from protoplanetary disk gaps in ALMA observations
- REBOUND: flexible, customizable N-body code with a variety of integrators
- REBOUNDx: REBOUND’s extended library of additional physics and effects
- Baronett S. A., Ferich N., Tamayo D., Steffen J. H., 2022, MNRAS, 510, 6001
- REBOUND_fragmentation: fragmentation and bulk composition tracking code for the C version of REBOUND
- Childs A. C., Steffen J. H., 2022, MNRAS, 511, 1848
Funding
We acknowledge the following funding agencies for their generous support:
