UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #1230
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
| Primary Research Mentor Name | Tomasz Plewa, |
|---|---|
| Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns | |
| 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) |
|
| Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from above) | |
| Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Pronouns | |
| Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Honorific? | |
| Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated) | |
| Name of Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) (if applicable) | |
| Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Pronouns | |
| Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Honorific? | |
| Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated) | |
| 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? | |
| 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 | |
| Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication | Yes |
| UROP Performance Evaluation | Yes |
| Materials Grant | Yes |
| UROP Poster Presentation | Yes |
| Year | 2025 |
| update url | https://cre.fsu.edu/urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?element_parents=elements/research_mentor_information/headshot_optional_&ajax_form=1&_wrapper_format=drupal_ajax&token=fV29KOISmsP_5X4lcSqP38nsO0bSWXSECt-SWzG74vs |