Doctor of Philosophy in Physics - Astrophysics/Astronomy

University of Cincinnati

Here at the University of Cincinnati, research in astrophysics can be broadly characterized as the investigation of young stellar systems and their environment, primarily at infrared wavelengths, and the study of stellar populations. Stars are born deeply embedded inside massive clouds of gas and dust. The dust not only dims the light from these stars, but the energy the dust absorb causes it to glow. Because the dust is much less efficient at obscuring the intrinsic light from such stars at infrared wavelengths than in the visible or ultraviolet, and because most of the dust-glow also occurs in the infrared, this spectral region is a prime window through which the formation and evolution of young stellar systems can be investigated. We have also developed powerful new tools for the investigation of the integrated light of star clusters and galaxies, and use these to understand the formation and evolution of stellar systems that are too distant to resolve the light of the individual stars.