Dongwoo works on tracing the history of star formation and molecular gas across the first several billion years of cosmic history. They are part of several experiments employing the technique of line-intensity mapping, tracing the implied three-dimensional large-scale distribution of galaxies through fluctuations in the total cosmic emission in specific atomic or molecular lines.
A major research highlight for Dongwoo is the publication of a series of Early Science papers based on the first 13 months of observing with the CO Mapping Array Project (COMAP) Pathfinder instrument. Dongwoo led Paper V, which interpreted the Early Science result as an unprecedented upper limit on CO clustering and integrated CO abundance at early cosmic times and forecasts a strong detection of the cosmological CO signal after five years of observing with the COMAP Pathfinder.
Beyond COMAP, Dongwoo works on experiments that target line-intensity mapping with the [C II] singly ionised carbon line. [C II] observations are a key project of the CCAT-prime observatory, which has a significant Canadian contribution. Dongwoo also works for the TIME collaboration as an active contributor to instrument operations and data analysis, participating in the most recent engineering run both on site and remotely.
Leveraging methods for approximate cosmological simulations developed at CITA, Dongwoo has also been investigating new statistical analyses that could be applied to the rich spectroscopic imaging datasets that all of these line-intensity mapping experiments will yield in the coming years.
Dongwoo has been a postdoctoral fellow at CITA since November 2020, with a cross-appointment at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics. Prior to this, they completed their PhD work at Stanford University.
The Tremaine Fellowship is given annually in memory of Beatrice D. and Vincent J. Tremaine to honour their lifelong interest in mathematics, science, and learning. The award was initially established at CITA by Vincent Tremaine in memory of his wife Beatrice when their son, Scott Tremaine, was the first director.