Hello! I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Astronomy working at the University of Oxford. From April 2023 I will work within the Hintze Centre for Astrophysical Surveys within the Transients subtheme.
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I graduated with a BSc Physics and Philosophy from the University of Nottingham in 2016, before moving to the Netherlands to pursue Astronomy & Astrophysics. I recieved my MSc in Astrophysics (GRAPPA track) in 2016, where my thesis supervisor was Prof. Sera Markoff. I defended my PhD thesis entitled 'Multi-messenger and multi-wavelength signatures of compact object transients' in 2022, which was supervised by Prof. Ralph Wijers and Dr. Antonia Rowlinson. I am currently a Hintze Fellow at the Astrophysics sub-department at the University of Oxford.
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My primary research interests are cosmic explosions, bursts, pulses, and bangs known as astrophysical transients. I'm especially interested in transients which involve neutron stars, where the density of the star and the high magnetic field can lead to all kinds of weird transient behaviour. Two of the most extreme transients we observe from neutron stars are the enormously powerful gamma-ray bursts (some of which are accompanied with gravitational waves), and the enigmatic flashes known as fast radio bursts, whose origin is still poorly understood. My research spans theoretical modelling and new observations of these sources, to better understand their underlying nature.
Learn moreBelow I list some of my recent publications. For a full list click here
Here we present a new method for modelling jet ejecta from X-ray binaries. For years we have been tracking ejecta 'blobs' from black hole X-ray binary systems, but had no way of measuring the energy of these blobs, nor the density of the environment which they plough into. Using Bayesian techniques, we model both the radiation and the kinematics of an ejecta from MAXI J1535 using adapted blast wave models originally devised for extragalactic gamma-ray bursts.
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In this work I present a new model to explain a subset of the new class of transients known as 'Long-period transients'. These coherent radio emitters have much longer periods than previously observed, and a subset of the new population appears to be powered by neutron stars. These very long periods strong challenge our previous understanding of how the rotation of a neutron star powers coherent radio emission as they exist in a region of parameter space well beyond canonical 'deathlines' where emission is expected to cease. In this work we present an alternative emission mechanism, powered by mildly twisted magnetic fields.
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In this work I present early post-burst observations of FRB 200428 which was observed from Galactic magnetar SGR 1935+2154. I model expected afterglow emission using the cooincident detection at X-ray frequencies, and show that a lack of detection at lower frequencies strongly favours FRB models in which the burst is produced close to the magnetars' surface, in the magnetosphere.
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This paper investigates we will detect pre-merger emission during neutron star mergers, which can now be probed via instruments measuring gravitational waves. I find that bright radio bursts can be produced before the merger itself through magnetospheric interactions through pulsar-like mechanisms. We provide a comprehensive overview of the pathways to detection of pre-merger emission, including through fast radio burst surveys, prompt radio observations of short gamma-ray bursts and gravitational wave sources, and through late-time follow-up in search of kilonova and radio afterglow emission.
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I investigate one method by which bright coherent radio bursts can be produced through bunches of particles producing radiation greater than the sum of their parts. I show that there is a strict maximum luminosity to any coherent radio burst which can be used to pinpoint the emission region. Furthermore, all radio bursts produced by coherent curvature radiation should be accompanied with a weak high-energy signatures. This signature is detectable for the brightest bursts we observe in our Galaxy, and may explain recent multi-wavelength detections of the Galactic FRB and giant pulses from the Crab Pulsar.
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In this project I re-examine X-ray binary jets (produced when a compact object interacts with a star) as high-energy particle accelerators. I show in this work that X-ray binaries may significantly contribute to the observed cosmic ray spectrum at the energy range separating Galactic and extra-galactic components. This contribution may be detectable through neutrino observations.
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