Speaker
Description
(Ultra-) Luminous Infrared Galaxies ((U)LIRGs) host some of the most intense star formation in the local universe and serve as nearby analogues of high-redshift starbursts. High–resolution near-infrared adaptive optics imaging of nearby (U)LIRGs reveals two key results: a substantial fraction of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe- the death of massive stars) occur in faint, apparently isolated regions rather than the dust obscured star forming region, and Young Massive Clusters (YMC- birth of massive stars) luminosity and mass functions differ systematically from those in normal spiral galaxies, indicating environment-dependent formation and disruption.
Using the Very Large Telescope's, Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (VLT/MUSE) integral field spectroscopy (further extending to a multiwavelength study using NIR and sub-mm data) of a representative (U)LIRG sample to obtain spatially resolved maps of dust extinction, star formation rate, stellar ages, metallicity, and gas/stellar kinematics and other physical properties. These data will test whether CCSNe trace heavily obscured star formation undetected in the near-infrared, link YMCs (the star birthplaces), to CCSNe (the explosion sites), and identify the dynamical drivers fueling extreme starbursts. This study will provide a unified view of the star formation ecosystem in LIRGs and improve constraints on obscured supernova populations in dense, dusty environments and link them to the starburst events in the galaxies, further providing insights on the overall galaxy evolution of U/LIRGs.