Contact Information
1002 W. Green St.
Urbana, IL
Research Interests
Observational Cosmology
Quasars and Active Galactic Nuclei
Galaxy Formation and Evolution
Surveys and Time-Domain Science
Research Description
I am an extragalactic observer. I mainly work on a range of topics centered on quasars and supermassive black holes (SMBHs), to understand the physics and evolution of these exotic objects in the cosmological context. Specifically, I work on the large-scale structure traced by quasars, the demography of SMBHs as a function of cosmic time, the phenomenology and physics of black hole accretion, and the co-evolution of black holes and host galaxies. I use multi-wavelength survey data and dedicated observing programs to carry out these studies.
Education
Astronomy, PHD, Princeton University
Additional Campus Affiliations
Professor, Astronomy
Professor, National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)
External Links
Recent Publications
Aydar, C., Merloni, A., Dwelly, T., Comparat, J., Salvato, M., Buchner, J., Brusa, M., Liu, T., Wolf, J., Anderson, S. F., Andonie, C. P., Bauer, F. E., Blanton, M. R., Brandt, W. N., Díaz, Y., Hernández-García, L., Kim, D. W., Miyaji, T., Morrison, S., ... Urrutia, T. (2025). The eROSITA Final Equatorial Depth Survey (eFEDS) SDSS spectroscopic observations of X-ray sources. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 698, Article A132. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202554372
Beard, M. W. J., MᶜHardy, I. M., Horne, K., Cackett, E. M., Vincentelli, F., Santisteban, J. V. H., Miller, J., Dhillon, V. S., Knapen, J. H., Littlefair, S. P., Kynoch, D., Breedt, E., Shen, Y., & Gelbord, J. (2025). Testing disc reprocessing models for AGN optical variability by comparison of X-ray and optical power spectra of NGC 4395. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 537(1), 293-305. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf014
Dalla Bontà, E., Peterson, B. M., Grier, C. J., Berton, M., Brandt, W. N., Ciroi, S., Corsini, E. M., Dalla Barba, B., Davies, R., Dehghanian, M., Edelson, R., Foschini, L., Gasparri, D., Ho, L. C., Horne, K., Iodice, E., Morelli, L., Pizzella, A., Portaluri, E., ... Vestergaard, M. (2025). Estimating masses of supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei from the H α emission line. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 696, Article A48. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202452746
Homayouni, Y., Jiang, Y., Brandt, W. N., Grier, C. J., Trump, J. R., Shen, Y., Horne, K., Hall, P. B., Anderson, S. F., Ho, L. C., & Schneider, D. P. (2025). The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project: Insights on Maximizing Efficiency in Lag Measurements and Black Hole Masses. Astrophysical Journal, 987(2), Article 155. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/add34e
Ishikawa, Y., Zakamska, N. L., Shen, Y., Liu, X., Chen, Y. C., Hwang, H. C., Vayner, A., Rupke, D. S. N., Veilleux, S., Wylezalek, D., Gross, A. C., Sankar, S., & Diachenko, N. (2025). VODKA-JWST: Synchronized Growth of Two Supermassive Black Holes in a Massive Gas Disk? A 3.8 kpc Separation Dual Quasar at Cosmic Noon with the NIRSpec Integral Field Unit. Astrophysical Journal, 982(1), Article 22. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb4ee