Neutral hydrogen in numerical simulations
Investigating the covering fraction of HI across redshift and dark matter halo mass
Astrophysics PhD student
Institute of Astronomy & Kavli Institute of Cosmology, University of Cambridge
Hello there!
I'm Lucas Tortora, a second-year PhD student at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge.
I work in the broader field of galaxy formation and evolution, and use numerical simulations
to study various physical processes governing the evolution of our Universe. Find out more about my research
below!
I am proudly both French and Italian, and travelled extensively throughout my life, having grown up and studied in the United States
and Switzerland before moving to the United Kingdom.
Though my academic work constitutes my "main quest", I engage in several "side quests" to unwind
from all science-doing. I have been an avid reader since I was kid, currently consumed by Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere novels.
I am also a gamer at heart and built a computer from scratch a couple of years ago. To shake things up,
I play football (@ioa.fc) and tennis, and regurlarly
boulder. Recently, I completed the W-circuit in Torres del Paine in the Chilean Patagonia,
and am always planning my next adventure (though I sorely miss the proximity of the Swiss Alps for that).
I am interested in the theoretical study of galaxy formation and evolution. Galaxies are incredibly complex systems; studying them
requires a complete understanding of the highly non-linear behaviour of matter (both baryonic and dark) in an expanding Universe across
a very wide range of scales (from individual stars and stellar nurseries to the cosmic web). This is a particularly challenging task,
and we have to approximate the underlying physical processes with numerical models which are then implemented into galaxy
formation simulations. Continuous improvements in computing hardware and software have enabled the development of increasingly sophisticated
models, which we use to predict and compare with observations (from, e.g., JWST, Euclid, LSST, etc.), to better understand
how our Universe came about.
Most of my work revolves around the use of these simulations to answer several questions about the underlying physical processes
that underpin galaxy formation. You can find an overview of some of the projects I have worked on below (and, as a free bonus,
*pretty pictures of galaxies*).
Investigating the covering fraction of HI across redshift and dark matter halo mass
Automatically detecting and characterising satellite galaxies and tidal features surrounding Milky Way-like galaxies, as part of the ARRAKIHS Mission Consortium
Exploring the formation and co-evolution of the first supermassive black holes and galaxies
For a complete version, please see: CV (April 2025).
I am always very happy to hear from anyone interested in my science. Please reach out if you have any questions and/or would like to collaborate! I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible :)
Observatory building, O26
Institute of Astronomy
Madingley Road, Cambridge
CB3 0HA