Personal Overview

After completing my undergraduate degree at the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay), I moved to The University of Texas at Austin, where I obtained my Ph.D. in Physics. Afterwards, I undertook postdoctoral stints at Princeton University, Harvard University and the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. I am currently an Assistant Professor of Astrobiology in the Department of Aerospace, Physics and Space Sciences at the Florida Institute of Technology.

My research interests are situated primarily within the transdisciplinary area of astrobiology. As a theorist, my research is mostly oriented towards modeling (through pen-and-paper calculations and numerical simulations) the following areas:

1. Properties of putative organisms (e.g., methanogens) and/or biospheres that could exist on habitable worlds (e.g., Mars, Enceladus) using available constraints on the fluxes of nutrients and energy.

2. Effect of stellar processes in regulating planetary habitability: (super)flares, coronal mass ejections, energetic particles, winds, and electromagnetic radiation.

3. Impact of high-energy astrophysical phenomena such as active galactic nuclei and tidal disruption events on habitability across galactic scales.

4. Planetary factors that modulate habitability: distribution of landmasses and oceans, mean temperature, magnetic fields, and tidal forces (from the star or moons).

5. Identifying novel biosignatures and technosignatures (e.g., chlorofluorocarbons) and assessing their detectability.

6. Missions to targets of interest in planetary science and astrobiology: Venus, Planet 9, interstellar objects, and nomadic planets.

7. Propellant-free propulsion systems like light sails and electric sails.

As my Ph.D. and initial postdoctoral research was in plasma physics, I continue to work sporadically in this field. Some of the areas that I have investigated over the past few years include Hamiltonian and Lagrangian formulations for plasma models, fluid models that accurately encapsulate collisional effects, generation of small- and large-scale magnetic fields, magnetic turbulence (e.g., in the solar wind), and fast magnetic reconnection which is believed to drive explosive phenomena such as stellar/solar flares.