Research Interests
Proton induced extensive air shower (1 TeV, vertical) simulated with CORSIKA.
Particles from Space. The astronomy and astrophysics of the ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). Their acceleration, their propagation in the Galactic/extragalactic magnetic fields, their interaction with the photon backgrounds from their source to the Earth atmosphere and the induced extensive air showers (EAS). EAS observation and the associated techniques of detection: fluorescence telescope, array of surface detectors and radio antenna. Data analysis to study the three spectral dimensions of the cosmic ray radiation at ultrahigh energy: energy spectrum, composition and distribution on the sky. Test beam experiments to measure physical processes related to EAS: absolute yield of fluorescence photons and microwave emission.
Cosmology. The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Use of the CMB temperature and polarization anisotropies to constrain the cosmological parameters and search for signatures of primordial gravitational waves from inflation. Gravitational lensing of the CMB to extract information about the projected large scale structure potential. The detection of galaxy clusters via the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect to constrain the cosmology through the growth of structure. The study of the CMB astrophysical foregrounds.
Appointments
University of Virginia, Department of Astronomy, 2014 - 2016
Visiting Research Scientist
● Co-wrote CAMEL (C++) to estimate cosmological parameters from astronomical surveys’ likelihood functions.
● Constrained Big Bang model’s parameters to % level precision. Set robust upper limit on the sum of neutrino masses.
European Space Agency, 2012 - 2014
Research Scientist
● Built Planck space observatory likelihood function to extract cosmological information from cosmic microwave background. Calculated covariance matrix analytically. Ran full Monte-Carlo simulation to test accuracy.
● Created analysis pipeline to test the robustness of Planck results to statistical methodology. Utilized Markov chain Monte Carlo (Bayesian) and profile likelihoods (frequentist) for parameters inference.
Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at The University of Chicago, 2009 - 2012
Fellow
● Led an international team of researchers to simulate cosmic rays sky maps for various astrophysical scenarios. Took into account energy losses, photo-dissociation and intervening magnetic fields from sources to Earth atmosphere.
● Constructed an SQL database to relate atmospheric conditions at the Pierre Auger Observatory to recorded events.
● Co-wrote Coverage & Anisotropy Toolkit (C++), a set of quantitative algorithms to search for anisotropies in ultrahigh energy cosmic ray radiation. Includes Monte Carlo events generator for making predictions. Produces publication-ready graphics.
Planck HFI Core Team, 2012 - 2016
Member
Pierre Auger Collaboration, 2004 - 2012
Member
Education
Ph.D. in Physics, 2004 - 2007
Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7, Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies, France
- Thesis: Search for anisotropies in the UHECR radiation measured with the Pierre Auger Observatory
- Advisor: Jean-Christophe Hamilton
M.Sc. in Physics, 2002 - 2004
Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7
- Specialty: Nuclei, Particles, Astroparticles and Cosmology
B.Sc. in Physics, 1999 - 2002
Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7 and Université Paris-Sud, France
Technical Skills
Statistical methods:
hypothesis testing, Monte Carlo sampling, inverse transform sampling, acceptance-rejection method, principal component analysis
Machine Learning:
clustering algorithms, regression models, support vector machines, decision trees, ensemble methods, neural networks, transfer learning
Programming Languages:
Python, C++, IDL, experience in R and SQL
Tools:
AWS, Git/GitHub, Jupyter Notebook, matplotlib, NumPy, pandas, SciPy, Sphinx, keras, sckikit-learn