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Andrés Escala
Full Professor
Training and contact
PhD in Astronomy, 2004, University of Chile, Chile. PhD in Astrophysics, 2004, Yale University, CT, USA. Postdoctoral Associate: 2004-2006, FONDAP Center for Astrophysics, University of Chile, Chile. Research Associate: 2006-2009, Kavli Institute for Astroparticle Physics and Cosmology, Stanford University, CA, USA.
Research Topics:Massive Black Hole Formation and Evolution, Galaxy/Star Formation, Mathematical Formulation of Empirical Laws.
Area of interest
His current research interests focus primarily on the formation of celestial objects, through numerical N-body + Hydro simulations of these systems, using state-of-the-art code (GADGET, ENZO, RAMSES, NBODY6, etc.). The problems he studies include the formation of black hole seeds from cloud collapse and runaway stellar collisions, cosmological growth and evolution through massive black hole mergers and/or gas accretion, the laws of star formation in galaxies, and cluster formation in galactic mergers. More recently, he has broadened his interests beyond theoretical astrophysics, studying the appropriate mathematical formulation of empirical laws. He reformulated the empirical relationship of metabolic rate in living organisms and is currently studying its implications for total energy consumption during life, ontogenetic growth, and the laws of population ecology.
Biography
Andrés Escala holds a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Yale University and a Ph.D. in Science from the University of Chile. He subsequently held a postdoctoral position at the University of Chile and a research associate position at Stanford University. Since July 2009, Dr. Escala has been a professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Chile, where he currently holds the position of Associate Professor (2015 to the present).
Along with a robust research program focused on the formation of small-scale structures (see previous section), since joining the University of Chile, Dr. Escala has been particularly active in administrative roles, including (between 2015 and 2020) serving as Deputy Director and Director of the Department of Astronomy, as well as Director of the Franco-Chilean Laboratory of Astronomy (UMI, CNRS, France).
He is a member of the Astronomical Societies of Chile and the Americas (SOCHIAS and AAS).
Along with a robust research program focused on the formation of small-scale structures (see previous section), since joining the University of Chile, Dr. Escala has been particularly active in administrative roles, including (between 2015 and 2020) serving as Deputy Director and Director of the Department of Astronomy, as well as Director of the Franco-Chilean Laboratory of Astronomy (UMI, CNRS, France).
He is a member of the Astronomical Societies of Chile and the Americas (SOCHIAS and AAS).
Courses, Projects, Recent Publications
- Mechanics
- Theory of Galaxies
- Introductory Physics
- Stellar Dynamics
- Introduction to Astrophysics
