University of Florida
211 Bryant Space Science Center
PO BOX 112055
Gainesville
FL 32611
Phone: 352.392.2052 ex 224
Email: tasker(at)astro.ufl.edu
Elizabeth
Tasker
My research has focused on modelling galaxies using the hydrodynamics code, Enzo (and playing ice hockey using a big stick). Enzo is an adaptive mesh refinement code with routines for star formation and feedback from Type II supernovae. It models the dark matter and stars as collisionless particles and the gas using either a PPM scheme or a 3D version of the ZEUS algorithm. More details about Enzo can be found in a paper by Brian O'Shea and others.
My main interests are in the formation and evolution of galaxies, in particular star formation and feedback mechanisms in disc galaxies such as our own Milky Way. Performing high-resolution (10s of parsecs), global galaxy simulations using Enzo, I have been looking at the gravitational fragmentation and subsequent star formation in a Milky-Way sized galaxy and exploring how this is effected by different star formation models, stellar feedback from Type II SNe and the properties of the interstellar gas (Tasker & Bryan, 2006, 2007). Most recently, in research with Jonathan Tan, I have been working to extend my simulations down to the Giant Molecular Cloud scales to explore the first stages of star formation in more detail, from the formation of clouds to their interactions and eventual destruction.
A significant amount of numerical developement of Enzo has been required to work on the above projects which led me to explore the differences in Astrophysics codes quantitatively. [A useful link to the Nottingham & Wengen work will appear here].
Publications (NASA ADS)
Curriculum Vitae (as of Nov. 2007)
Projects in progress:
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Cloud formation in galaxy discs |