ENIGMA
Exploring the Nature of the Inter- and Circum-galactic Media
Group Leader
 | Joseph F. Hennawi Intergalactic and circumgalactic medium, galaxy formation, quasars and AGN, absorption line techniques, data mining Tel. +1-805-893-3503 E-mail: joe@physics.ucsb.edu ADS, Home Page |
Postdocs
 | Riccardo Nanni High redshift quasars, growth of the first supermassive black holes, X-ray supermassive black holes and surveys Tel. +1-805-618-5139 E-mail: riccardonanni@ucsb.edu ADS, Home Page |
 | Koki Kakiichi Reionization, high-redshift galaxies, radiative transfer/radiation hydrodynamics, 21cm cosmology E-mail: kakiichi@ucsb.edu ADS, Home Page |
 | Suk Sien Tie Lyman-alpha forest, IGM, astronomical instrumentation E-mail: sstie@ucsb.edu ADS, Home Page |
 | Jan-Torge Schindler SMBH formation and evolution, High-z quasar surveys, Quasar luminosity function, Near-infrared spectroscopy E-mail: schindler@strw.leidenuniv.nl ADS, Home Page |
 | Caitlin Doughty Reionization, circumgalactic and intergalactic media, high-redshift galaxies E-mail: doughty@strw.leidenuniv.nl ADS |
PhD Students
 | Teng Hu Lyman-alpha forest, Low z Intergalactic Medium Tel. +1 217 819 2451 E-mail: tenghu@ucsb.edu |
 | Molly Wolfson Lyman-alpha forest, high-redshift IGM, reionization E-mail: mawolfson@ucsb.edu Home Page |
 | Shane Bechtel High Redshift IGM, Quasar Light Echoes E-mail: sbechtel@ucsb.edu |
 | Silvia Onorato High Redshift Quasars, Reionization of IGM E-mail: onorato@strw.leidenuniv.nl Home Page |
 | Elia Pizzati Quasars, Supermassive Black Holes Growth E-mail: pizzati@strw.leidenuniv.nl ADS |
 | Ben Wang Damped Lya Systems(DLAs), Type-II QSOs at high redshift E-mail: bwang@mail.strw.leidenuniv.nl |
Master Students
 | Yi Kang Density estimation with machine learning. E-mail: kang@strw.leidenuniv.nl |
 | Victorine Buiten Quasar spectrum prediction with machine learning E-mail: buiten@strw.leidenuniv.nl |
 | Zsófia Szalavári Epoch of Reionization, 21cm Cosmology E-mail: szalavari@strw.leidenuniv.nl |
 | Daming Yang High-z quasars, Spectroscopy E-mail: dyang@strw.leidenuniv.nl |
Undergrad Students
 | Zhuoqi Liu Quasar variability, data mining and reduction E-mail: zhuoqiliu@ucsb.edu |
 | Linda Zhenyu Jin Lyman-alpha forest, Neural Network Emulator E-mail: zhenyujin@ucsb.edu |
 | Xin Sheng Lyman-alpha forest, Intergalactic Medium, data analysis E-mail: xinsheng@ucsb.edu |
Visiting Scientists
 | Sebastiano Cantalupo ETH Zürich, Assistant Professor Numerical modeling and observation of the Intergalactic and Circumgalactic medium, Galaxy Formation, Ionizing and Ly-alpha Radiative Transfer, Hydrogen and Helium Reionization E-mail: cantal@ucolick.org ADS, Home Page |
 | Michele Fumagalli Durham University, ICC, Associate Professor Galaxy evolution, distribution of gas and metals in and around galaxies, models of galaxy formation E-mail: mfumagalli@ucolick.org ADS, Home Page |
 | David W. Hogg New York University Flatiron Institute Cosmology, galaxy dynamics, exoplanets, and inference with large data sets E-mail: david.hogg@nyu.edu ADS, Home Page |
 | Adam D. Myers University of Wyoming, Associate Professor MPIA, Alexander von Humboldt Fellow Quasar classification in imaging surveys, Quasar clustering, Binary quasars E-mail: geordiemyers@gmail.com ADS, Home Page |
 | Jason X. Prochaska UCSC, Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics MPIA, Alexander von Humboldt Fellow Absorption line techniques, gas in galaxies, circumgalactic medium, intergalactic medium, star-formation, chemical enrichment E-mail: xavier@ucolick.org ADS, Home Page |
 | Gordon T. Richards Drexel University, Associate Professor of Physics MPIA, Alexander von Humboldt Fellow Quasars, Quasar Absorption Lines, Galaxy Evolution, Gravitational Lensing E-mail: gtr@physics.drexel.edu ADS, Home Page |
Former Group Members
 | John Tamanas Applied machine learning, Statistical learning, Intergalactic medium E-mail: jtamanas@ucsc.edu ADS, Home Page |
 | Michael Walther Lyman-alpha forest, Thermal History of the IGM Tel. +1-510-701-6845 E-mail: mwalther@physics.ucsb.edu ADS, Home Page |
 | Daniele Sorini Cosmology, galaxy formation, large-scale structure, intergalactic and circumgalactic medium Tel. +44 131 6688 412 E-mail: sorini@roe.ac.uk ADS, Home Page |
 | Tobias Schmidt Quasar Light Echos, Proximity Effect, Helium Reionization, Tel. (+1) 805 893 7864 E-mail: tschmidt@physics.ucsb.edu Home Page |
 | Anna-Christina Eilers Intergalactic Medium at High Redshifts, Epoch of Reionization Tel. +49 6221 528483 E-mail: eilers@mit.edu ADS, Home Page |
 | Hector Hiss Thermal history of the Intergalactic Medium, Lyman-alpha forest Tel. +49 6221 528483 E-mail: hiss@mpia-hd.mpg.de Home Page |
 | Emanuele Paolo Farina Circumgalactic medium, physical quasar systems, MgII absorption systems, high redshift quasars, redshift and variability of blazars. Tel. +49 6221 528323 E-mail: emanuele.paolo.farina@gmail.com ADS, Home Page |
 | Frederick Davies Large-scale fluctuations in the ionizing background, semi-numerical models of reionization, high redshift Lyman-alpha forest Tel. +49 6221 528322 E-mail: davies@physics.ucsb.edu ADS, Home Page |
 | Vikram Khaire Cosmic Ultraviolet Background, Intergalactic Medium Tel. +1-805-837-4587 E-mail: vkhaire@physics.ucsb.edu ADS, Home Page |
 | Feige Wang High redshift quasars, growth of the first supermassive black holes, black hole/galaxy coevolution, the history of cosmic reionization Tel. +1-520-360-3967 E-mail: fgwang.astro@gmail.com ADS, Home Page |
 | Jonathan Stern Northwestern University, CIERA Fellow Confinement with Radiation Pressure, Active Galactic Nuclei E-mail: yehonatan.stern@northwestern.edu ADS, Home Page |
 | Gábor Worseck Potsdam University Intergalactic medium, reionization of hydrogen and helium, quasar surveys. E-mail: gworseck@astro.physik.uni-potsdam.de ADS, Home Page |
 | Jose Ońorbe University of Edinburgh, Institute for Astronomy Cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, galaxy formation and evolution, dwarf galaxies E-mail: jose.onorbe@ed.ac.uk ADS, Home Page |
 | Ilya Khrykin Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don Helium II Reionization and its sources E-mail: khrykin@mpia-hd.mpg.de ADS, Home Page |
 | Khee-Gan Lee University of California, Berkeley, Hubble Fellow Intergalactic medium, Lyman-alpha forest cosmology E-mail: lee@mpia-hd.mpg.de ADS, Home Page |
 | Fabrizio Arrigoni Battaia European Southern Observatory, ESO Fellow Lyman alpha blobs E-mail: arrigoni@mpia-hd.mpg.de ADS, Home Page |
 | Cristina García Vergara Leiden University Quasar environments, galaxy clustering at high redshifts, clusters of galaxies. E-mail: garcia@strw.leidenuniv.nl Home Page |
 | Girish Kulkarni University of Cambridge, Postdoctoral Fellow Reionization, metal enrichment of intergalactic medium, SMBH assembly E-mail: kulkarni@ast.cam.ac.uk ADS, Home Page |
 | Alberto Rorai University of Cambridge Reionization, thermal history of the intergalactic medium E-mail: al.rorai@gmail.com ADS, Home Page |
 | Gabriela Calistro Rivera Leiden University Fitting Spectral Energy Distributions of AGN, Statistical Methods, AGN Obscuration E-mail: calistro@strw.leidenuniv.nl |
 | Elisabeta Lusso Durham University, JRF Fellowship AGN SED modelling, galaxy-black-hole co-evolution E-mail: beta.lusso@gmail.com ADS, Home Page |
 | Kate Rubin San Diego State University, Assistant Professor Galaxy Evolution, galactic-scale outflows and infall, gaseous halos and absorption-line systems E-mail: krubin@sdsu.edu ADS, Home Page |
 | Neil Crighton Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing Swinburne University Intergalactic medium, circumgalactic medium and gas around galaxies. E-mail: neilcrighton@gmail.com ADS, Home Page |
NEWS
- Discovery of the first quasar quartet: Published in May 2015, the discovery of the first Quasar Quartet by a team of astronomers led by Joe Hennawi from MPIA was ranked number four in Astronomy Magazine’s top 10 Space Stories of 2015. For more information please have a look at the MPIA press release.
- From Wall to Web 2016: The ENIGMA group is happy to announce this year's IGM conference 'From Wall to Web'. This six day conference will take place July 24 – 29, 2016 at the Harnack-Haus in Berlin, Germany. For more information please check the conference webpage.
- Illuminating the Dark Ages: Quasars and Galaxies in the Reionization Epoch: The Max Planck Institute for Astronomy is happy to announce the 5th annual MPIA summer conference, Illuminating the Dark Ages: Quasars and Galaxies in the Reionization Epoch. This 5 day conference will take place June 27 - July 1, 2016, at the Haus der Astronomie in Heidelberg, Germany. For more information please check the conference webpage.
- Discovery of the first quadruple quasar: Using the W.M. Keck observatory in Hawaii, the ENIGMA group of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy has discovered the first quadruple quasar: four rare active black holes situated in close proximity to one another. The quartet resides in one of the most massive structures ever discovered in the distant universe, and is surrounded by a giant nebula of cool dense gas. For more information please have a look at the MPIA press release.
- 'CT Scan' of Distant Universe Reveals Cosmic Web in 3D: The ENIGMA group from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy has created the first three-dimensional map of the 'adolescent' Universe, just 3 billion years after the Big Bang.This map, millions of light years across, provides a tantalizing glimpse of large structures in the 'cosmic web', which forms the backbone of cosmic structure. For more information please have a look at the MPIA press release.
- Intergalactic Matters 2014: This weeklong workshop takes place June 16–20, 2014, at the MPIA in Heidelberg, Germany. It aims to bring together experts in the study of the IGM/CGM to discuss recent developments in the field. For more information please visit the conference web site.
- Black Hole Powers 'Cosmic Flashlight' Illuminating the Cosmic Web: Researchers from the University of California at Santa Cruz and the ENIGMA group at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy have captured an image of the cosmic web for the first time: they exploited the intense radiation generated by a supermassive black hole, which, like a flashlight, illuminates the cosmic web, revealing its structure. For more information please see the MPIA press release.
- Observation of Distant Galaxy Powered by Primordial Cosmic Fuel: Researchers from the ENIGMA group have detected cold streams of primordial hydrogen, vestigial matter left over from the Big Bang, fueling a distant star-forming galaxy in the early Universe. Profuse flows of gas onto galaxies are believed to be crucial for explaining an era 10 billion years ago, when galaxies were copiously forming stars. For more information and details on this discovery, please have a look at the MPIA press release.