Profile
Dr Angela Breimann
Postdoctoral Research Associate
I am a postdoctoral research associate working within the ERC project AWESoMeStars. The overarching aim of the project is to provide a better understanding of the evolution of low mass stars (0.1 to 1.3 solar masses) and their environments. In particular, the project focusses on the origins and evolution of accretion, mass-loss, magnetic activity, and the rotation rates of such stars.
Low mass stars exhibit magnetic fields which are generated by rotation and convection. These magnetic fields drive magnetic activity and stellar winds. The removal of stellar angular momentum is aided through magnetised stellar winds, and the ensuing spin-down torques change the stellar rotation rate. The altered rotation rate in turn influences the generation of the magnetic field, causing a feedback loop, which results in stars spinning ever slower.
Within the framework of the AWESoMeStars project, my own work focusses on improving models of stellar rotational evolution, from the pre-main sequence through to the late main sequence stages. These models are statistically compared to cluster datasets using our tau squared statistic, which allows us to find best-fitting model parameters.
Education
I obtained my PhD from the University of Exeter in late 2021, working with Prof Sean Matt and Prof Tim Naylor. My thesis is titled 'Talking About Torques: Statistical Fitting of Rotational Evolution Models'.
I graduated from the University of St Andrews with an Astrophysics MPhys (Masters) in 2017. My Masters project, titled 'The Needle in the Haystack: Survey Harvesting for Brown Dwarf Variability and Lightning Detection', was supervised by Dr Aurora Sicilia-Aguilar and Dr Christiane Helling.
Other Experience
- 2016 summer project, European Southern Observatory (ESO): 'Activity Cycle Shapes' supervised by Dr Gaitee Hussain
- 2016 summer project, University of St Andrews: 'The Variability of Forming Sun-Like Stars' supervised by Dr Scott Gregory
- 2015 summer project, University of St Andrews: 'The Evolution of High Energy Emission During the Formation of Sun-Like Stars' supervised by Dr Scott Gregory