EPSCoR Research Fellows: NSF: Unraveling Cosmological Tensions by Modeling the Oldest Stars with Improved Treatments of Convection in Stellar Interiors

About This Grant

This Research Infrastructure Improvement EPSCoR Research Fellows project provides a fellowship to an Assistant Professor and training for a graduate student at the University of Wyoming. This work will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Philip Mocz, Dr. Matteo Cantiello and Dr. Jared Goldberg at the Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA) of the Flatiron Institute in New York. Through the fellowship, the principal investigator (PI) will develop tools to improve our understanding of the age of the Universe. Stars have been observed that appear to be older than theory has suggested. The PI will use computational astrophysics to more accurately estimate the ages of these ancient stars and resolve their apparent tension with current estimates of the cosmological age of the Universe. The PI will use the expertise in state-of-the-art computing offered by the researchers at CCA to improve the STEM preparation of students at the new School of Computing at the University of Wyoming. The Universe’s widely accepted age is inferred from the cosmic microwave background, yet some stars and clusters appear older—a discrepancy rooted in the fact that age is not directly observed but rather inferred from theoretical models. This project will improve stellar age estimates by enhancing models of stellar evolution using MESA (Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics), with a focus on more accurate energy transport physics to resolve this long-standing inconsistency. MESA, a cornerstone of modern astrophysics, is developed with support from CCA, which has dedicated a full-time software engineer, Dr. Philip Mocz, to the project. Although MESA Summer Schools have trained hundreds in collaborative, open-source software development since 2012, this critical piece of astronomy education infrastructure lacks a permanent home. This project will launch the University of Wyoming as the educational hub of MESA, connecting its School of Computing to CCA and expanding access to cutting-edge computational technology and techniques for Wyoming students. This project is supported by the EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: EPSCoR Research Fellows, which supports early- and mid-career investigators in eligible jurisdictions to develop collaborations at the nation’s private, government or academic research institutions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.