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Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge

 
Galaxy Formation
Active Galactic Nuclei
Hydrodynamical Simulations

Biography

Oct 2021 - present: Junior Research Fellow (St Catharine's College, University of Cambridge)

Aug 2022 - Dec 2023: Flatiron Research Fellow (CCA, Flatiron Institute, New York City)

Oct 2017 - Sep 2021: PhD in Astronomy; supervisors: Prof. Debora Sijacki & Prof. Martin Haehnelt (IoA/KICC & Churchill College, University of Cambridge)

Oct 2013 - Jun 2017: MPhys Physics (New College, University of Oxford)

Research

I am interested in galaxy formation theory, in particular the interface between galaxies and their supermassive black holes. To this end, I develop new galaxy formation models and perform hydrodynamical simulations of individual galaxies as well as representative regions of the Universe with the moving mesh code AREPO.

During my PhD, I investigated the hitherto unexplored role of black hole feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN) in dwarf galaxies. My current research focus is to build novel models of black hole evolution (including black hole formation, growth, and feedback) for galaxy formation simulations, which take advantage of the superior resolution and allow for detailed multimessenger predictions in preparation for the next-generation electromagnetic and gravitational-wave observatories.

Publications

Key publications: 

A unified accretion disc model for supermassive black holes in galaxy formation simulations: method and implementation; Sophie Koudmani, Rachel S. Somerville, Debora Sijacki, Martin A. Bourne, Yan-Fei Jiang and Kasar Profit (submitted to MNRAS). [ADS] [astro-ph]

Two can play at that game: constraining the role of supernova and AGN feedback in dwarf galaxies with cosmological zoom-in simulations; Sophie Koudmani, Debora Sijacki and Matthew C. Smith (2022, MNRAS), [ADS] [astro-ph]

A little FABLE: exploring AGN feedback in dwarf galaxies with cosmological simulationsSophie Koudmani, Nicholas A. Henden and Debora Sijacki (2021, MNRAS), [ADS] [astro-ph]

Fast and energetic AGN-driven outflows in simulated dwarf galaxiesSophie Koudmani, Debora Sijacki, Martin A. Bourne and Matthew C. Smith (2019, MNRAS), [ADS] [astro-ph]