Michael Hammer

Running hydrodynamic simulations of planets in protoplanetary disks.

I am a third-year postdoctoral fellow at the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA) in Taipei, where I work with Dr. Min-Kai Lin. I completed my PhD at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory in August 2021, where I was an NSF Fellow and a NASA Space Grant Fellow. During my PhD, I worked with Professor Kaitlin Kratter and Dr. Paola Pinilla in addition to Dr. Min-Kai Lin.

For my research, I use the National Center for High‑Performance Computing (NCHC) and Theoretical Institute for Advanced Research in Astrophysics (TIARA) supercomputers to conduct hydrodynamic simulations with the FARGO3D code. I simulate newly-formed (or still-forming) planets in order to explore how these planets shape the disks around them as they are forming. It is an exciting time to study protoplanetary disks thanks to the activation of the ALMA telescope in 2011, the first telescope capable of taking good images of the disks in the nearest star-forming regions to our home planet. I am interested in using simulations to better understand what these brand-new disk images and related observations can tell us about planet formation. This includes validating or refuting unseen planet candidates, as well as constraining the properties of these planets and the surrounding disks. My first, second, third, and fourth first-author papers focused on planet-induced vortices.

Beyond research, I am heavily involved in outreach. My main interest is to inspire kids to love math and science. As a graudate, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to instruct elementary school students in how to conduct their own scientific research projects as part of the UA Sky School, and to teach middle school students astronomy-themed activities as part of Project ASTRO. My primary outreach focus during my PhD was Astrobites, which I am still involved with as a postdoc.

Before graduate school, my undergraduate research at Cornell focused more on simulations of N-body dynamics. I also participated in two summer research programs: the SAO Solar Physics REU at Harvard, and the LEAPS program at Leiden. While I was at Cornell, I held several undergraduate outreach leadership positions, most notably serving as the Outreach Coordinator for our Society of Physics Students chapter for three years. Additionally, I am a former president of the Cornell Astronomical Society. My favorite outreach activity at Cornell was Expanding Your Horizons.