About me
In February 2025, I graduated Columbia University with a B.A. in Physics and a B.A. in Mathematics. I am currently working with Prof. Zoltan Haiman on electromagnetic (EM) signatures of supermassive black hole binaries.
So far, I have been focusing on one EM signature called gravitational self-lensing (see background video), which are periodic microlensing flares expected to occur for edge-on black hole binaries. Anticipating that the Vera Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will have enough quasars discover these rare signatures, I have estimated how many such edge-on binaries we expect in the LSST catalog, and how to efficiently detect these signals in noisy data. I am also an associate member of the LSST Active Galactic Nuclei Science Collaboration and a member of the Binary Follow-up Task Force Subgroup, which aims to follow-up on LSST alerts on AGN transients to find binaries.
Research Interests
I am interested in using time-domain and multi-wavelength observations to identify sub-parsec supermassive black hole binaries through their transient EM signatures, including:
- Self-lensing flares
- Relativistic Doppler boosting
- (Hydrodynamical) Accretion variability
- Merger-driven Signatures
- Spectral signatures (e.g. shifting broad lines)
- Blazar/Jet-related variability.
Long term, I hope to connect time-domain EM observations with signals from Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) or the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) to better understand supermassive black hole binaries from a multi-messenger perspective.
I am also interested in Tidal Disruption Events, the recently discovered Quasi-Periodic Eruptions, and also other high-energy transients.
Contact Me at:
Video Credit:
Jordy Davelaar