Education
- National Institute of Science Education and
Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, Odisha
Intergrated M.Sc. in Physics (with a Minor in Computer Science)
(2022-2027)
Research Experience
-
Study of Multiphase CGM Absorber Tracing 106 K Plasma
Supervisor: Dr. Sowgat Muzahid, IUCAA, Pune- Analysed and studied the a multiphase absorber system tracing 106K plasma
- I was able to resolve previously undetected cool gas phase in the HST COS spectrum.
- Learnt about Voigt profiles and fitting absorption lines to extract physical properties of the cloud.
- Performed photoionization modelling using CLOUDY and compared the computed results to the observed spectra.
-
Modelling Magnetic Reconnection using PLUTO
Supervisor: Dr. Amit Shukla, IIT Indore- Solved MHD equations for magnetic reconnection.
- Analysed the dependence of various parameters on the reconnection.
- Got familiarized with the usage of PLUTO performed various HD/MHD simulations on it including - Hydrodynamical Jet Flow, the Kevin-Helmholtz Instability and MHD Blast Waves
-
Visualising Geodesics in Schwarzschild Spacetime
KSP6 Project- We explored General Relativity by simulating the motion of particles and light in the curved spacetime around a non-rotating black hole, described by the Schwarzschild metric.
- We computationally solved the geodesic equations to calculate trajectories near key features, such as the Event Horizon.
-
Spectral Modelling of Type Iax Supernovae
Supervisor: Dr. Kuntal Misra, ARIES, Nainital- The project involves detailed spectral analysis and modelling of type Iax supernova ejecta, using a 1D radiative-transfer code TARDIS, to understand its mechanism and progenitors.
- Worked extensively on radiative-transfer modelling through Monte-Carlo methods, MCMC fitting of emission lines and spectral analysis.
- We were able to show that abundance stratification in the early epoch ejecta could explain certain previously un-reproducable spectral deviations.
- Results published in the Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy.
- Link to the Final Report.
-
Earth as an Exoplanet
Supervisor: Dr. Jayesh Goyal, SEPS, NISER, Bhubaneswar- A project studying the diurnal variation of Earth’s disk integrated emission spectra to model how the Earth would look like as a directly imaged exoplanet.
- Worked directly with INSAT-3D satellite data to analyse earth’s disk integrated spectrum over time.
- Was familiarized with large-scale data analysis of Earth’s SED data.
-
Applications of Numerical Calculus in Multidisciplinary Problems
Supervisor: Dr. Colin Benjamin, SPS, NISER- I numerically analysed practical problems using computational methods, including the heat equation, hunting and diffusion models, edge detection algorithms and spectral integration.
- Performed as a part of the Computational Physics course (P346).
- More details available on the project website.
Term Projects
Publications
- Kayal, Sohini* and Gayatri, P* and Singh, Mridweeka and Misra, Kuntal, Abundance Stratification in Type Iax SN 2020rea with TARDIS, Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy, 2025, arXiv
Achievements
- Selected for IUCAA Vacation Students' Programme
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, India, 2025 - NIUS Fellowship (National Initiative on Undergraduate Science)HBCSE, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, India, December 2023 — May 2025
- DISHA Scholarship (DAE Incentive Scheme for Holistic Science Education and Augmentation)Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Govt. of India, August 2022 — 2027
Schools and Workshops
- 4th Belgo-Indian Network for Astronomy and Astrophysics (BINA) Workshop Presented a poster on, "Abundance Stratification in Type Iax Supernovae with TARDIS", conducted by the University of Calicut, Kerala, India. November 2025
- NIUS Astronomy CampA 10-day camp with talks covering fields of Astrophysics, Astronomy & Cosmology along with hands-on experience using GMRT pulsar data at NCRA, Pune. The camp also included workshops on working with exoplanet data and image processing. Hosted by Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), TIFR. July 2023
Skills
- Languages: Python, Java, C++
- Tools: Git, Jupyter, LaTeX, Arduino, Linux
- Softwares & Tools: SolidWorks, Fusion 360 (3D Modelling), ROOT-CERN, TARDIS-SN (Spectral Synthesis Code), CLOUDY (Photoionization Simulation Code), PLUTO, VPFit (Voigt Profile Fitting)