I am currently doing my PhD in Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where I spend my days exploring the mysteries of supermassive black holes in the early Universe.
Additionally, I devoted a portion of my PhD to work on the opposite side of the size spectrum, in quantum measurements, with some exciting results soon to be published!
View my Google Scholar profile, and find out about my past and present research projects below.
Astrophysics
Current research:
Proximity zones of high-redshift quasars
I am currently working on understanding properties of high-redshift quasar proximity zones and how these are shaped by the history of cosmic reionization. I work with Professors Anna-Christina Eilers and Rob Simcoe at the Cosmic Dawn Group at MIT.
Past projects:
Super-Resolution Galaxy Imaging
For my Master’s thesis, I have created a machine-learning model which can turn galaxy images from ground-based telescopes into space-telescope-like quality images.
Reconstructing Quasar Continua to Study the Epoch of Reionization
Here is a recorded talk I gave at the SAZERAC conference in July 2020. You can find out more about this research project in our paper (also on arXiv).
Identifying Lyman Continuum Leakers in the Epoch of Reionization
Read more about this project in our paper.
Photometric Observations of the TrES-1 b Exoplanet
Back in the penultimate year of high school is Slovakia, I got involved with the observatory in my hometown Hlohovec, where I studied transiting exoplanets as my very first research experience. We performed multi-band photometric observations of the TrES-1b exoplanet in Lyra with the local 60cm Cassegrain telescope, reduced and analysed the data, and finally published the transit light curves in the Exoplanet Transit Database.
Precision Quantum Metrology
Precision quantum metrology is a branch of physics which applies quantum-mechanical principles to improve the precision of all kinds of measurements we make: time, distance, force, or phase to list a few. This not only has many industrial applications, such as for navigation systems, biomedical imaging or computer chip manufacturing, but it also bears a very fundamental relevance - quantum-gravity experiments and dark matter detection are a few such areas where the toolkit of precision metrology has experienced a growing interest recently.
Current research:
Studying Quantum Gravity through Precision Quantum Metrology
I am a past member of the Quantum and Precision Measurements Group, where I used precision quantum metrology for the development of a novel, state-of-the-art force detector to study the interface between quantum physics and gravity.
Past projects:
Optomechanical Squeezing for Improved Gravitational Wave Detection
In summer 2018, I joined Professor Nergis Mavalvala and colleagues at the MIT LIGO Laboratory to perform an experiment aimed at producing optomechanically squeezed states of light to improve the precision of gravitational wave detectors. I was specifically in charge of designing and building the intensity stabilisation servo (ISS) to suppress the classical noise in a laser and thus prepare a quantum-noise limited beam for the rest of the experiment.