Research

I'm a PhD student in the Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics group, working under the supervision of Prof. Roman Rafikov. I'm broadly interested in the dynamics of astrophysical discs, with my PhD project being focused on planet-disc interactions in protoplanetary discs. In particular, my current work is looking at the processes governing gap opening by low-mass planets in low-viscosity or inviscid discs. This research aims to bridge the well-understood early stages of gap opening, with the later stages, where increasing gap depth leads to strong non-linearity. 

In addition, I'm interested in debris discs undergoing evolution driven by secular planetary perturbations. These interactions impose a characteristic profile of eccentricity in the disc that is directly reflected in a complex pattern of sharp features in the azimuthally averaged surface density (ASD) profiles of discs. In line with this, I am the developer for an open-source Python package, DebrisPy, which offers a pipeline to analytically compute the ASD profiles of debris discs provided the underlying particle semi-major axis and eccentricity profiles. Hence, providing an analytic link between disc dynamics and potentially observable structures.

I can be contacted via email: da619@cam.ac.uk

Academic Background

• 2025 - present: PhD in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, DAMTP, University of Cambridge
• 2024 - 2025: MPhil in Data Intensive Science, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge
• 2020 - 2024: MSci in Physics, Imperial College London