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October 24, 2001 Hugh
Couchman
Dear Prospective Graduate Student, This letter is to introduce myself and to describe my group and the kind of research that we do. I am interested in post recombination cosmology which is the study of the universe and its contents after the universe cooled and first became neutral about 100,000 years after the Big Bang. In particular I investigate how structure - galaxies, clusters of galaxies and large-scale structure - grows from small density ripples present at recombination. Much of this work involves computer simulation and is a field which has been named as one of the "Grand Challenges" of the physical sciences! A Master's student, Sam Bromley, got his degree in September and Todd Fuller, a student of mine at the University of Western Ontario, successfully defended his Ph.D. in May. I expect to have openings for two and possibly three new students this coming year. There are currently two postdoctoral fellows working with me: Rob Thacker - who is investigating the formation of spiral galaxies, a much sought-after goal in cosmology - and James Wadsley - who works with me and Ralph Pudritz on areas of common interest between star formation theorists and cosmologists. Ralph Pudritz and I are hoping to hire another postdoc this coming year. The group is very informal and interacts closely. The postdocs, in particular, are a great asset and frequently collaborate with and help students. I usually suggest several projects and encourage students to pick one which excites them. My group forms part of the wider theoretical astrophysics group with Alison Sills' and Ralph Pudritz' groups and I have close ties with the other theorists in Physics and with those in other departments, often because we all use computers to do science (it's amazing the range of science you come into contact with this way). Student have their own workstations and access to a wide range of other computers. I am part of several external collaborations, including "Virgo" which is based in Durham, UK and with connections in Munich, Germany and with "C4" which is a collaboration between Victoria and McMaster, as well as ties with the Astronomy groups in Sussex, UK, the University of Washington in Seattle and the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Toronto. My students can expect to be involved with this joint work and will have opportunities for travel to meetings and conferences. Please do not hesitate to contact me at couchman@mcmaster.ca if you think this is a research area in which you might be interested or simply if you have any questions. Best wishes,
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