Research overview
I believe that the first confirmed detection of continuous gravitational waves with pulsar timing arrays will result from a targeted search. My research therefore focuses on developing and improving multimessenger techniques for individual supermassive black-hole binaries. Achieving such a detection will require advances on several fronts: higher-quality pulsar timing data; enhanced search techniques; more frequent, comprehensive, and precise electromagnetic observations of candidate binaries; and improved source modelling that connects electromagnetic observables directly to gravitational-wave parameters. Through my work, I aim to make significant advances in each of these areas and help establish a robust pathway toward the first detection of an individual continuous gravitational-wave source.
Current research
My current research centres on the search for individual supermassive black-hole binaries in the nanohertz gravitational-wave band. I combine pulsar-timing-array data with electromagnetic observations to test proposed binary candidates, constrain their physical properties, and determine whether independent data sets tell a consistent story. This includes my first-author multimessenger study of 3C 66B, the development of posterior-tension tests for challenging candidate systems, and work on targeted standard sirens as a new route to measuring the expansion of the Universe. I also contributed the frequentist component of the PPTA DR3 all-sky continuous-wave search, where we can search our entire dataset for any signal. Alongside this gravitational-wave programme, I am developing machine-learning methods to identify radio-frequency interference and improve the reliability of the pulsar observations on which precision timing depends.
Targeted gravitational-wave searches
First author
Combining electromagnetic constraints with the PPTA DR3 to test the proposed supermassive black-hole binary in 3C 66B.
Multimessenger consistency tests
First author
Developing posterior-tension tests that compare electromagnetic binary candidates with independent pulsar-timing data sets.
Gravitational-wave cosmology
Co-author
Using targeted pulsar timing array searches to turn electromagnetically identified binaries into precise cosmological probes.
Continuous gravitational waves
Frequentist-search contribution
Searching the third Parkes Pulsar Timing Array data release for individual supermassive black-hole binaries.
Side project · Pulsar data quality
Co-lead with Jędrzej Jawor
Training statistical classifiers on EPTA observations to identify radio-frequency interference in pulsar timing array data.
Collaboration research
Pulsar-timing-array science is built on long observing campaigns, careful data validation, and close collaboration across a wide range of expertise. Within the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array, I contribute to this broader programme primarily by performing pulsar observations and by reviewing analyses and manuscripts. Collaboration projects that I have directly contributed to include: testing whether PTAs can constrain extremely massive binaries at cosmic dawn, searching for eccentric binaries in OJ 287 and nearby galaxy clusters, looking for anisotropy in the gravitational-wave background, and improving timing through frequency- and phase-resolved polarimetric templates. Although I do not lead the central analyses in these papers, the observational and review work helps ensure that the underlying data products and scientific conclusions are robust. As a member of the International Pulsar Timing Array, I actively participate in the Gravitational Wave Analysis Working Group and plan to contribute to the analysis of IPTA DR3, especially the continuous gravitational wave searches. I am also a LISA community member. I follow the mission's scientific development closely, and continually look for opportunities to connect PTA and LISA science through shared questions in multimessenger astronomy, source modelling, and massive-black-hole evolution.
Pulsar-timing collaboration
PPTA observations and review
Supporting broader studies of high-redshift and eccentric binaries, gravitational-wave anisotropy, and precision polarimetric timing.
International pulsar timing
Gravitational Wave Analysis Working Group
Actively participating in the IPTA gravitational-wave working group and preparing to contribute to the analysis of IPTA DR3.
Space-based gravitational-wave astronomy
Community member
Following LISA closely and seeking opportunities to connect space-based gravitational-wave science with pulsar timing arrays.
Past research
My earlier research established the observational, computational, and statistical foundation for my current work in pulsar timing and gravitational-wave astronomy. During my MSc, I used Effelsberg's ultra-broadband receiver to study how pulsar emission evolves across 1.3–6 GHz while developing statistical approaches to mitigate radio-frequency interference. My work on the repeating source FRB 121102 included a search for periodic structure in a dense sample of burst arrival times, contributing to a substantially expanded burst catalogue. Other projects examined short-timescale dispersion-measure variations with CHIME, the effect of frequency channelisation on dispersion measurements, and practical searches for pulsar candidates in Arecibo and Fermi data. I also developed faster coordinate-aware tools for searching large observational databases and gained experience with experimental instrumentation, control software, and public science demonstrations. Collectively, these projects taught me how telescope data move from acquisition and cleaning through statistical analysis to physical interpretation.
Wide-band pulsar observations
Master's research
Investigating pulsar emission across 1.3–6 GHz with Effelsberg's ultra-broadband receiver while developing robust RFI mitigation.
Signal simulation
Using simulated telescope data to determine how frequency resolution and signal-to-noise affect dispersion-measure precision.
Fast radio bursts
Periodicity-search contribution
Reanalysing a dense observing data set, recovering 93 additional bursts, and searching their arrival times for periodic structure.
Pulsar timing
Using CHIME's daily cadence to resolve short-timescale changes in the ionized material along pulsar sightlines.
Scientific computing
Replacing a linear search through more than 20,000 Arecibo pointings with a coordinate-aware binary-search workflow.
Pulsar surveys
Inspecting folded candidate plots from Arecibo drift-scan observations and Fermi gamma-ray sources in searches for millisecond pulsars.
Earlier research
Hands-on instrumentation, control systems, display analysis, and public demonstrations developed across several experimental-physics projects.