Projects
Probing stellar physics and testing stellar evolution through asteroseismology (Prosberity). KU Leuven
Lifting stellar structure and evolution to higher dimensions in the era of space asteroseismology KU Leuven
Stars are the source of radiation, chemistry, and life in the Universe. Models of how stars live are key ingredients in planetary, astrophysical, and cosmological research. A star is a hot plasma rotating around an axis. Small stars like the Sun rotate slowly but bigger ones with more mass rotate faster, shaping them as flattened spheroids. Yet, current stellar models simplify the flattening or treat stars as spheres during their lives, using ...
Fundamental Atomic Data deduced from Stellar Spectroscopy KU Leuven
Accurate atomic transition data are crucial input parameters for the modelling of stars. The fundamental atomic data, such as oscillator strengths and rest wavelengths, governs our very understanding and interpretation of the internal structures, atmospheres, and evolution of stars and stellar environments. As such, any errors and uncertainties in the adopted atomic data run the risk of systematically propagating throughout the entire field ...
Lifting stellar structure and evolution to higher dimensions in the era of space asteroseismology KU Leuven
Scientific exploitation of the KU Leuven Mercator telescope: addressing major shortcomings in our understanding of stellar structure and evolution of single and binary stars KU Leuven
Intermediate and high-mass stars are the chemical factories of our Universe. Their chemical and energetic feedback drives the evolution of galaxies while their end-of-life products serves as probed to study the distant universe or give rise to gravitational waves that can be detected by current and future facilities. Yet, our understanding of their stellar structure and evolution suffers from major shortcomings and yet the simplest part of ...
Probing the Milk Way's Building Blocks: The Galactic Bulge, Stellar Halo, and Kepler Field-of-View KU Leuven
With the new Gaia space mission currently operational, specifically designed to map the structure of the Milky Way to unprecedented accuracies by measuring 1 billion of stars, the answers to some of the most
fundamental questions of Galactic formation and evolution will be within reach in the immediate future. This thesis focuses on the preparation required for the scientific exploitation of what will be the largest and most diverse ...
Seismology of stellar coronae. KU Leuven
Asteroseismic Tests of Stellar Evolution, Dark Matter, and the Gravitational Constant KU Leuven
The asteroseismic observations collected by space observatories like the NASA Kepler and TESS missions probe the conditions inside of bright nearby stars and thus facilitate tests to numerous fundamental theories. My proposal is to advance our knowledge of fundamental physics by making use of these observations to conduct three such tests: first, to assess whether the internal structures of these stars are in agreement with the predictions ...
Multiplicity properties of massive stars across different ages and stellar environments through high-angular resolution observations KU Leuven
With at least 8 times the mass of the Sun, massive stars are some of the most intriguing objects in the universe. They are the stellar equivalent of a giant 'factory', producing the elements that make up our planet today. Through strong stellar winds, they lose a significant amount of their mass before ending their life in a spectacular explosion: a supernova. At the end of their life, massive stars disperse the elements that they created ...