Adam Batten

Affiliate

Swinburne University of Technology

Biography

Most of the matter in the Universe resides in the void between galaxies known as The Intergalactic Medium (IGM) and understanding the IGM is crucial to many areas of astrophysics. During the era of the first stars and galaxy formation, the IGM provided the initial conditions from which galaxies grew. The IGM also is the reservoir from which galaxies feed to form stars and has thus played a critical role in galaxy evolution. My research is looking into different ways we can probe the IGM through a combination of observations and simulations. I am using the EAGLE simulations to create electron column density distributions to help estimate the distances to Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). The dispersion measure of FRBs has the potential to be a useful probe to measure the mass of the ionised gas in the IGM and find the 'missing baryons'. I am also using MUSE observations of quasar fields to determine if metal absorbers along the line-of-sight originate from the IGM or the circumgalactic medium. I am also creating mock MUSE observations using the Aurora simulations to trace these metal absorption systems back to their originating galaxy during the epoch of reionisation.