Dr. Tiago Costa

Postdoctoral Fellow

News

• I will be joining Newcastle University in Summer 2022 on the NUAcT Tenure Track scheme,
• New paper (led by Hannah Stacey) now accepted for publication: Red quasars blow out molecular gas from galaxies during the peak of cosmic star formation
• New paper now accepted for publication in MNRAS: AGN-driven outflows and the formation of Lya nebulae around high-z quasars

Career

• since 2018: MPA Postdoctoral Fellow (MPA, Garching),
• 2015—2018: Nova Postdoctoral Fellow (Leiden Observatory, Netherlands),
• 2011—2015: Ph. D. (Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, UK)

Research interests

• Galaxy evolution and the impact of active galactic nuclei (AGN),
• Physics of AGN feedback (e.g. accretion disc winds, momentum-, energy-driving, radiation pressure),
• Outflow driving mechanisms and multi-phase structure in galactic outflows and the circumgalactic medium,
• High-z quasars, supermassive black hole growth, quasar cosmic environments,
• Numerical implementations of AGN Feedback and black hole accretion into (radiation-)hydrodynamic galaxy formation codes (AREPO, GADGET, RAMSES)

Upcoming Talks

• 10/2022: Seminar (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India, remote)
• 11/2022: Bologna Joint Astrophysical Colloquium (Bologna, Italy)
• 11/2022: Seminar, Astronomical Observatory of Trieste (Trieste, Italy)

Selected Publications

• Tiago Costa, Rüdiger Pakmor & Volker Springel:
  Powering galactic superwinds with small-scale AGN winds, MNRAS (2020), (pdf, doi)


• Chris M. Harrison, Tiago Costa, Clive Tadhunter, Andrin Flütsch, Darshan Kakkad, Michele Perna & Giustina Vietri:
  AGN outflows and feedback twenty years on, Nature Astronomy (2018), (pdf, doi)


• Tiago Costa, Joakim Rosdahl, Debora Sijacki & Martin Haehnelt:
  Quenching star formation with quasar outflows launched by trapped IR radiation, MNRAS (2018) (pdf, doi)


• Tiago Costa, Debora Sijacki & Martin Haehnelt:
  Feedback from active galactic nuclei: energy- versus momentum-driving, MNRAS (2014) (pdf, doi)


• Tiago Costa, Debora Sijacki, Michele Trenti & Martin Haehnelt:
  The environment of bright QSOs at z = 6: star-forming galaxies and X-ray emission, MNRAS (2014) (pdf, doi)

International Collaborations

Synergies between theory and observations:

• Quasar Feedback Survey, a systematic multi-wavelength study of low-redshift (z<0.2) Type 1 and Type 2 quasars (core member),
• REQUIEM Survey, VLT/MUSE observations targeting z > 5.7 quasar environments (core member),
• CO-I in several Cycle 1 JWST GO Programs (GO 2028, GO 2078, GO 2177)

Numerical models and simulations of galaxy formation:

• Learning the Universe

Research Highlights

• Reflected quasar light powers giant cool gas nebulae - how the first quasars generate giant Lya nebulae,
• How black holes power galactic super-winds - a new physical model for quasar wind feedback,
• Cool dense hydrogen gas around the first quasars - a survey of giant cool gas clouds around the first quasars,
• The hidden satellites of the first massive galaxies and quasars - how stellar radiation precipitates the destruction of galaxy satellites

Public Engagement

I frequently speak on topics ranging from the solar system to relativistic cosmology to primary and high-school audiences. Example talks include:


• "O Sistema Solar e o Universo/ The Solar System and the Universe", GS Philipp-Weiß, Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany (2019)
• "Os buracos negros no centro das galáxias/ The black holes of galactic centres", Escola Raul Proença, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal (2019)
• "Breve História do Universo/ Short History of the Universe", Escola D. Pedro V, Lisboa, Portugal (2014, 2015)

You are welcome to contact me via email if you would like me to deliver a talk (in English, German or Portuguese) on these and other topics at your school.