Céline Chidiac
PhD Thesis: Molecular Line Studies
PhD Supervisor: PD Dr. Rainer Mauersberger
Collaborators: Dr. Christian Henkel, Prof. Dr. Frank Bertoldi, Prof. Dr. J. Anton Zensus, Dr. Denise Riquelme, Dr. Sergio Martín, Dr. Melanie Krips, Dr. Rebecca Aladro
Project description: A line survey covering the entire 3-mm band and targeting the innermost 100-pc of M 82 and IC 342 has been missing so far, as previous surveys targeted only selected molecules. Imaging such a high resolution survey will offer an unbiased spatially resolved inventory of the molecular contents of those galaxies. Such an inventory is still missing. By analysing the 3-mm line survey data of M 82 and IC 342 obtained by Plateau de Bure Interferometre (PdBI) (now known as Northern Extended Millimetre Array (NOEMA)), we are able to list all the molecules found in those galaxies. Moreover, despite the many similarities between those two galaxies, their star formation rate is very different. The star formation rate in M 82 is an order of magnitude higher than that of IC 342. In order to understand and explain this difference, this work aims to map the CMZs of both galaxies at 3-mm range, relate the chemical abundances to physical environment, compare star formation indicators found in this survey to typical indicators in optical and IR, and search for reliable indicators of PDRs, shocks, X-ray, and CR- dominated regions. Beside imaging, we will apply the principal component analysis (PCA), which will help us to associate different chemistries to different physical locations in the galaxies.
About me I come from a small town in the mountains of Lebanon. There, I obtained my bachelor degree (B.Sc.) in Physics from the Lebanese University, Faculty of Science II. Due to my strong interest in astrophysics and the lack of opportunities in Lebanon to pursue such a master degree in Astrophysics, I successfully applied for a scholarship from KAAD in order to study and complete my master degree (M.Sc.) in Astrophysics at the university of Bonn. During the master programme, I was able to get an internship in Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, in the Millimeter/sub-millimeter group. However, my interest in AGNs led me to a master thesis in the VLBI Group. After successfully submitting my master thesis, I got a PhD position within the IMPRS Programme, starting 15.03.2016.
Master Thesis: Broadband variability study of the gamma-ray bright blazar 3C 273 (Scientific Advisor: Dr. Bindu Rani); Universität Bonn
MSc related publication: Exploring the nature of the broadband variability in the flat spectrum radio quasar 3C 273;