Marta B. Silva studies the first galaxies and their evolution over cosmic time

"Line Intensity Mapping studies show great promise in their power to probe cosmology and global astrophysical quantities", Marta B. Silva

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Marta Bruno Silva, Postdoctoral fellow at Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, UiO. Photo: UiO.
Marta Bruno Silva started working at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics in October 2018 as a postdoctoral researcher in the Cosmology and extragalactic astronomy group.
She studied Physics Engineering at Instituto Superior Tecnico - University of Lisbon. During her master she collaborated in the writing of a publicly available code (Simfast21) for simulating the cosmological 21cm signal from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR).
After defending her Ph.D., at the end of 2014 Marta moved to The Netherlands.
– For four years I was a postdoctoral researcher at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute - University of Groningen, working on the LOFAR-EoR project.
During that period she also continued working on Intensity Mapping studies of galaxy lines, extending her previous studies to the post-EoR.

Galaxies over cosmic time

Marta's main research interests are the study of the properties of the first galaxies and their evolution over cosmic time. 

– My current project at ITA aims at building a semi-numerical code for Galaxy Lines Intensity Mapping studies and to improve the modelling of the target lines by including more realistic astrophysical relations derived from Galaxy formation simulations, from zoom in galaxy simulations and from several multifrequency sets of observational data. 
Her project is a continuation and an extension of what Marta has done before.  
– Its main objective is to make the connection between Intensity Mapping studies, and existent constraints from multifrequency observation data (existing and future) and from simulations appropriate for the signal modelling at different scales.
Image may contain: Diagram, Slope, Rock, Architecture.
The birth of the first stars marks the beginning of our "Cosmic Dawn" and the heating of the intergalactic medium above the temperature of the cosmic microwave background. Later, during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR), radiation from the first galaxies ionized the intergalactic medium. The reionization process was the last major phase transition of the universe from a predominantly neutral to a predominantly ionized intergalactic medium. This process had a large impact on the subsequent galaxy formation and evolution. Credits: Marta B. Silva

In line with research and natural beauty

– What brought you to Norway?
– I came to Oslo first of all because I wanted to work at ITA and to collaborate with several people here which work on subjects which are a perfect complement to my line of research. Also, I wanted to experiment with the real northern lifestyle and to properly explore this country full of natural beauty. 

– What is your experience so far?
– So far my experience at ITA was very eventful, it's a very lively institute. It has a large and very competent support staff who are happy to make people life easier.  Also, there are a lot of opportunities to get extra formation organized by the Oslo University. 

– Any expectations?
– I hope its a very productive and happy time.


Published Mar. 5, 2020 12:32 PM - Last modified Jan. 5, 2024 10:03 AM