ROBERT SIMCOE, Pappalardo
Fellow in Physics: 2003-06
Research Interests
Rob Simcoe maintains strong interests in both the development of
optical/infrared instrumentation for ground-based astronomical observatories,
and the observation of galaxies and intergalactic matter at the
epoch when the universe was ~10-20% of its present age.
In particular, he has worked to improve characterizations of the
spatial distribution of elements heavier than Hydrogen and Helium
at early times. In the wake of the Big Bang, the universe is thought
to have been primarily composed of H and He, with nearly all large
scale production of heavier elements taking place through nuclear
fusion in the cores of the first stars. When these stars ended their
lifetimes, they exploded as supernovae and polluted intergalactic
space with newly formed chemicals.
By studying the strength and spatial variation of intergalactic
oxygen and carbon at early epochs, Simcoe has been working toward
an understanding of when and where the first stars in the universe
were formed. Further work in correlating the locations of early
galaxies with heavy elements in the nearby intergalactic medium
is also leading to some of the the first direct physical characterizations
of the cycle of galaxy formation, supernova feedback, and chemical
enrichment during the peak era of star formation over cosmic time.
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Biographical Sketch
A native of Westborough, MA, Simcoe has been an amateur astronomer and telescope maker since his youth. After grinding 8– and 15.5–inch telescope optics with his father, he went on to earn his A.B. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton in 1997, and his Ph.D. in astronomy from Caltech in 2003, studying under Wallace Sargent.
Simcoe now specializes in observational astrophysics, with particular emphasis on the chemistry of galaxies and intergalactic matter in the early universe. He remains active in the application of new technologies toward instrumentation for large ground-based telescopes. He has commissioned a wide–field camera for the 200–inch Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory, and is developing an infrared spectrometer for 6.5 meter Magellan telescopes in the Chilean Andes, where he carries out most of his observations. Rob will be joining the MIT Physics faculty in the fall of 2006.
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Selected Publications
"The Distribution of Metallicity in the Intergalactic Medium
at z~2.5: O VI and C IV Absorption in the Spectra of Seven QSOs,"
R. Simcoe, W. Sargent & M. Rauch, 2004, The Astrophysical Journal,
606, 92.
"The
Cosmic Web," American Scientist, Jan-Feb 2004, Vol 92,
No 1, Pg 92.
"Characterizing the Warm-Hot IGM at High Redshift: A Survey
for O VI at z ~ 2.5," R. Simcoe, W. Sargent & M. Rauch,
Astrophys. J., 578, 737 (2002).
"Small Scale Structure at High Redshift: Low Ionization Gas
Intersecting Three Lines of Sight to Q2237+0305," M. Rauch,
W. Sargent, T. Barlow & R. Simcoe, Astrophys. J. 576, 45 (2002).
"LFC - A New Wide-Field Imager for the Palomar 200-inch Telescope,"
R. Simcoe, M. Metzger, T. Small & G. Araya, BAAS, 196, 52.09
(2000).
"Sizes, Shapes, and Correlations of Lyman Alpha Clouds and
their Evolution in the Lambda-CDM Universe," R. Cen & R.
Simcoe, Astrophys. J., 483, 8 (1997).
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