UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #1230 | Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement

Submission information

Submission Number: 1230

Submission ID: 20746

Submission UUID: 2a143d25-4e18-41d2-8a9b-a42eab6dd312

Submission URI: /urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal

Submission Update: /urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?token=fV29KOISmsP_5X4lcSqP38nsO0bSWXSECt-SWzG74vs

Created: Mon, 08/18/2025 - 12:20 PM

Completed: Mon, 08/18/2025 - 12:43 PM

Changed: Mon, 08/25/2025 - 12:32 PM

Remote IP address: 144.174.27.244

Submitted by: Anonymous

Language: English

Is draft: No

Webform: UROP Project Proposal Portal

Submitted to: UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal

Research Mentor Information

Primary Research Mentor Name Tomasz Plewa,

Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns {Empty}

When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific? tplewa@fsu.edu

Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated) tplewa@fsu.edu

Position Title Faculty

FSU College (if applicable) Arts and Sciences

FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation Scientific Computing

Headshot (optional)

Additional Research Mentor(s)

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Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Honorific? {Empty}

Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated) {Empty}

Name of Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) (if applicable) {Empty}

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Overall Project Details

Title of the Project Experiments in Computational Stellar Astrophysics

Project Keywords astronomy physics computer programming data analytics

Are you currently looking for research assistants? Yes

Number of Research Assistants Needed 1

Relevant Research Assistant Major(s) physics and astrophysics, physics, statistics, computer science, computational science, mathematics, engineering, oceanography, meteorology

Project Location: On FSU Main Campus

If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation? {Empty}

Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s): Partially Remote

Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work? 10

Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work? Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)

Overall Research Project Description Motivated by observations of supernova remnants such as SN 1987A or Tycho, we are investigating links between the supernova progenitor structure, instabilities developing during the explosion process, and characteristics of emerging young supernova remnants. The starting point for such investigations are stellar evolution studies of supernova progenitors.

From practical point of view, stellar evolution calculations require solving a set of coupled, nonlinear ordinary or partial differential equations. In this project, we will be using the MESA code,

http://mesa.sourceforge.net/

to solve the required evolutionary equations. In recent years, MESA had become a tool of choice for studying variety of astrophysical systems such as stars, binary stars, planets, and basic physics problems in dedicated settings. In this project, we study the evolution of thermonuclear flames powering Type Ia supernovae explosions, and assess sensitivity of their properties, such as speed and width, on the fuel parameters. The results of this study will subsequently be used as input to supernova explosion codes such as Agile-IDSA,

http://www.physik.unibas.ch/~liebend/download/index.html

or FLASH,

https://flash.rochester.edu/site/flashcode/

More advanced students may participate in and contribute to the analysis of multiphysics simulation results, such as computing nucleosynthetic yields and obtaining specific characteristics of explosion models.

This project is strongly computationally-oriented and requires practical user knowledge of Linux or MacOS operating system. In addition, a broader range of topics is available to students fluent with programming languages such as C, C++, Fortran, or Python. Familiarity with simulation data analysis and visualization tools (e.g. Excel, gnuplot, matplotlib) is a plus.

Applications of students who do not have programming skills or do not plan taking a programming class during the first semester of this project are strongly discouraged.

Additional information related to the project can be obtained at

http://people.sc.fsu.edu/~tplewa/Research/index.html

Research Tasks All the required work will be done on desktop computers provided by the Department of Scientific Computing or with student's laptop computers serving as front ends to departmental computers (connecting via Remote Desktop/Anydesk software), and in person or Zoom for weekly communications.

The project tasks involve,
(1) Review text book information about mathematics and physics relevant to problems in stellar evolution.
(2) Familiarize with the Linux operating system. Download, install, and familiarize with the MESA stellar evolution code.
(3) Construct a series of stellar evolution tracks for various stellar masses (Hertzsprung-Russel Diagram).
(4) Present evolution of stellar structure using Kippenhahn's diagrams (see, e.g., https://github.com/orlox/mkipp ).
(5) Study sensitivity of stellar progenitors characteristics or stellar physics phenomena to problem parameters.
(6) Obtain a series of stellar evolution or relevant multiphysics simulations.
(7) Analyze obtained results.
(8) Prepare a poster presenting the project findings.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Recommended: practical knowledge of a Linux/MacOS-type operating system.
Required: practical knowledge of MATLAB, Python, or Fortran/C/C++.
Required: strong interest in nature of physics phenomena and good preparation in the areas of mathematics, physics, or statistics.

Mentoring Philosophy Promoting learning through inquiry -- the Socratic method.
Sharing own research experience.
Creating a safe environment in which mentees feel that is acceptable to fail and learn from their mistakes.

Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable): https://news.fsu.edu/news/science-technology/2020/12/17/fsu-computational-scientist-demonstrates-how-supernovae-detonate/

Please add any additional information here (if applicable): https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.18482
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slaa141
https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.16674

Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable? No

Roundtable times and Zoom links {Empty}

UROP Program Elements

Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication Yes

UROP Performance Evaluation Yes

Materials Grant Yes

UROP Poster Presentation Yes

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Year 2025

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