My research focuses on several aspects of stellar evolution, mostly related to Type Ia Supernovae (SNe). Identifying the elusive progenitor systems of these explosions has become one of the central problems of modern astrophysics, with important implications for cosmology. I am currently working on two main projects along these lines:

Binary systems. Many of the most exciting phenomena in astrophysics, including Type Ia SNe, arise from the interaction between stars in binary systems. Modern astronomical surveys like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey gather data on thousands of stars, and I use these data to study the properties of binary systems, and determine which ones will explode as Type Ia SNe.

Supernova Remnants (SNRs) form when the debris expelled by supernovae interacts with the ambient medium surrounding the progenitor system. The supersonic shock waves that ensue heat the material to temperatures of several million degrees, making SNRs bright X-ray sources. I am interested in many different aspects of SNR studies, from detailed hydrodynamic models of individual objects observed by X-ray satellites like Chandra and XMM-Newton to statistical studies of SNR populations in nearby galaxies as a mean to measure SN rates and investigate the nature of their progenitors.