kuldeep.phy's picture
Dr. Kuldeep Verma
Assistant Professor
Department of Physics IIT(BHU)
kuldeep.phy@itbhu.ac.in
7307108094
Area of Interest: 
.Asteroseismology, Stellar Astrophysics, Galactic Archaeology, Machine Learning

I am working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi (since July 12, 2022). I previously worked as a Juan de la Cierva Fellow at the Institute of Space Sciences, Spain (November 1, 2021 until July 11, 2022) and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Stellar Astrophysics Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Denmark (October 1, 2016 until April 30, 2021). I completed my PhD degree in 2016 with a thesis on "Asteroseismology of sun-like main-sequence stars" from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. I obtained my master and bachelor's degrees from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and University of Allahabad, Allahabad, respectively. My research involves data, concepts and tools from various disciplines including asteroseismology, stellar astrophysics, Galactic archaeology, statistics and numerical computations. In particular, I frequently employ stellar evolution and pulsation models, as well as advanced statistical and numerical methods including Bayesian analysis and machine learning in my research (see research section for an overview). I am member of a number of national and international organizations including International Astronomical Union (IAU), European Astronomical Society (EAS) and Astronomical Society of India (ASI). Furthermore, I hold memberships in the NASA's Kepler and TESS asteroseismic science consortia and am heavily involved in the preparation of the upcoming European Space Agency's PLATO mission.

Full CV: click here (will soon be available)

An accurate understanding of the internal structure and evolution of stars is of paramount importance to modern astrophysics, and physics in general. Stars serve as an excellent laboratory to test our understanding of basic physics in extreme conditions, and their observations provide invaluable inputs for several scientific disciplines including exoplanetary science and Galactic studies.  

I specialize in asteroseismology, the study of oscillations in stars. During the past one-and-a-half decades, the high-quality measurements of the surface brightness variations of stars by the French-led CoRoT space telescope and the NASA Kepler/K2 and TESS satellites allowed not only detections of stellar oscillations but also provided their frequencies to unprecedented precision. Since the modes observed on the surface propagate inside the star, they sense the medium and carry information about the stellar interior. The contemporary measurements of several tens of oscillation frequencies of the stars enable us to probe their interior somewhat in the same way helioseismology was used to study the solar interior. Furthermore, such precise measurements of frequencies together with stellar evolution models allow us to precisely infer masses, radii, ages and helium abundances of field stars, which serve as invaluable inputs for exoplanetary science and Galactic archaeology.  

I also work on relatively new discipline of Galactic archaeology. The chemical and kinematic properties of stars in the Milky Way contain information about the properties of the gas from which they formed. Therefore, the measured stellar elemental abundances from the large spectroscopic surveys such as the APOGEE and the measurement of the 6D phase space information of stars by the Gaia mission can be used together with the seismically inferred stellar ages to identify the key physical processes and past major events that shaped our Milky Way. Such studies can be combined with the chemical evolution models and modern state-of-the-art cosmological magneto-hydrodynamic zoom-in simulations to study the formation and evolution of our host Galaxy.

H-index : 18; Total Number of Citations : 1000+ (Source: NASA/ADS)
For publications and citation metrics on NASA/ADS: click here
For publications and citation metrics on Google Scholar: click here 

Publications

  1. K. Verma, J. L. Rørsted, A. M. Serenelli, et al. 2022, “Advanced asteroseismic modelling: breaking the degeneracy between stellar mass and initial helium abundance”, MNRAS, 515, 1492
  2. E. Spitoni, V. Aguirre Børsen-Koch, K. Verma, et al. 2022, “Disc dichotomy signature in the vertical distribution of [Mg/Fe] and the delayed gas infall scenario”, A&A, 663, A174
  3. V. Aguirre Børsen-Koch, J. L. Rørsted, A. B. Justesen, …, K. Verma, et al. 2022, “The BAyesian STellar Algorithm (BASTA): a fitting tool for stellar studies, asteroseismology, exoplanets, and Galactic archaeology”, MNRAS, 509, 4344
  4. M. S. Cunha, I. W. Roxburgh, V. Aguirre Børsen-Koch, …, K. Verma, et al. 2021, “PLATO Hare-and-Hounds exercise: Asteroseismic model fitting of main-sequence solar-like pulsators”, MNRAS, 508, 5864
  5. K. Verma, R. J. J. Grand, V. Silva Aguirre, et al. 2021, “An observational testbed for cosmological zoom-in simulations: constraining stellar migration in the solar cylinder using asteroseismology”, MNRAS, 506, 759
  6. E. Spitoni, K. Verma, V. Silva Aguirre, et al. 2021, “APOGEE DR16: a multi-zone chemical evolution model for the Galactic disc based on MCMC methods”, A&A, 647, A73
  7. A. Pietrinferni, S. L. Hidalgo, S. Cassisi, …, K. Verma, et al. 2021, “The updated BaSTI stellar evolution models and isochrones: II. Alpha-enhanced calculations”, ApJ, 908, 102
  8. P. E. Nissen, J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, J. R. Mosumgaard, …, K. Verma, et al. 2020, “High-precision abundances of elements in solar-type stars: Evidence of two distinct sequences in abundance-age relations”, A&A, 640, A81
  9. E. Spitoni, K. Verma, V. Silva Aguirre, et al. 2020, “Galactic archaeology with asteroseismic ages part II: Confirmation of a delayed gas infall using Bayesian analysis based on MCMC methods”, A&A, 635, A58
  10. V. Silva Aguirre, D. Stello, A. Stokholm, …, K. Verma, et al. 2020, “Detection and characterisation of oscillating red giants: first results from the TESS satellite”, ApJL, 889, L34
  11. W. J. Chaplin, A. M. Serenelli, A. Miglio, …, K. Verma, et al. 2020, “Age dating of an early Milky Way merger via asteroseismology of the naked-eye star ν Indi”, Nat Astron, 4, 382
  12. K. Verma, V. Silva Aguirre, 2019, “Helium settling in F stars: constraining turbulent mixing using the observed helium glitch signature”, MNRAS, 489, 1850
  13. D. Huber, W. J. Chaplin, A. Chontos, …, K. Verma, et al. 2019, “A hot saturn orbiting an oscillating late subgiantdiscovered by TESS”, AJ, 157, 245
  14. K. Verma, K. Raodeo, S. Basu, et al. 2019, “Helium abundance in a sample of cool stars: measurements from asteroseismology”, MNRAS, 483, 4678
  15. B. Nsamba, T. L. Campante, M. J. P. F. G. Monteiro, …, K. Verma, et al. 2018, “Asteroseismic modelling of solar-type stars: internal systematics from input physics and surface correction methods”, MNRAS, 477, 5052
  16. S. L. Hidalgo, A. Pietrinferni, S. Cassisi, …, K. Verma, et al. 2018, “The updated BaSTI stellar evolution models and isochrones. I. solar-scaled calculations”, ApJ, 856, 125
  17. K. Verma, K. Raodeo, H. M. Antia, et al. 2017, “Seismic measurement of the locations of the base of convection zone and helium ionization zone for stars in the Kepler seismic LEGACY sample”, ApJ, 837, 47
  18. ​V. Silva Aguirre, M. N. Lund, H. M. Antia, …, K. Verma, et al. 2017, “Standing on the shoulders of dwarfs: the Keplerasteroseismic LEGACY sample. II. radii, masses, and ages”, ApJ, 835, 173
  19. M. N. Lund, V. Silva Aguirre, G. R. Davies, …, K. Verma, et al. 2017, “Standing on the shoulders of dwarfs: the Keplerasteroseismic LEGACY sample. I. oscillation mode parameters”, ApJ, 835, 172
  20. K. Verma, S. Hanasoge, J. Bhattacharya, et al. 2016, “Asteroseismic determination of fundamental parameters of Sun-like stars using multi-layered neural networks”, MNRAS, 461, 4206
  21. D. R. Reese, W. J. Chaplin, G. R. Davies, …, K. Verma, et al. 2016, “SpaceInn hare-and-hounds exercise: estimation of stellar properties using space-based asteroseismic data”, A&A, 592, A14
  22. W. J. Chaplin, M. N. Lund, R. Handberg, …, K. Verma, et al. 2015, “Asteroseismology of solar-type stars with K2: detection of oscillations in C1 data”, PASP, 127, 1038
  23. T. Appourchaux, H. M. Antia, W. H. Ball, …, K. Verma, et al. 2015, “A seismic and gravitationally bound double star observed by Kepler. Implication for the presence of a convective core”, A&A, 582, A25
  24. K. Verma, H. M. Antia, S. Basu, et al. 2014, “A theoretical study of acoustic glitches in low-mass main-sequence stars”, ApJ, 794, 114
  25. K. Verma, J. P. Faria, H. M. Antia, et al. 2014, “Asteroseismic estimate of helium abundance of a solar analog binary system”, ApJ, 790, 138

Conference proceedings 

  1. B. Nsamba, T. L. Campante, M. J. P. F. G. Monteiro, ..., K. Verma, et. al. 2018, "Model physics in low-mass solar-type stars: atomic diffusion and metallicity mixture", proceeding of PHOST (Physics of Oscillating Stars) - a conference in honour of Prof. H. Shibahashi, doi:10.5281/zenodo.1468510
  2. K. Verma, J. P. Faria, H. M. Antia, et al. 2015, “Asteroseismic estimate of helium abundance of 16 Cyg A, B”, EPJ Web of conferences, 101, 06066
  1. Participated in the MW-GAIA workshop on "Fundamental stellar parameters from asteroseismology: the connection with exoplanet studies in the era of Gaia", Aarhus University, Denmark, June 13–15, 2022
  2. Participated (invited) in the PLATO WP12 HOW#2 virtual workshop on "Uncertainties in stellar properties determination", April 12–15, 2021
  3. Participated (invited) in the PLATO WP12 HOW#1 virtual workshop on "PLATO Stellar Analysis Pipeline: architecture, workflow, dataflow", November 4–6, 2020
  4. Delivered invited talk on “A comparison of the predictions of Auriga simulations with the APOKASC and Gaia data” and participated in the Chemical Evolution of Galaxies: the next 25 years workshop, Sexten Center for Astrophysics, Sexten, Italy, January 11, 2020
  5. Participated (invited) in the PLATO STESCI workshop III, Residencia de Investigadores, Barcelona, Spain, November 19–22, 2019
  6. Delivered contributed talk on “Helium settling in F stars: Constraining turbulent mixing using observed signature of helium ionization” and participated in the TASC5/KASC12 workshop, MIT Cambridge, USA, July 23, 2019
  7. Delivered invited seminar on “Asteroseismology as a tool to study stellar physics and Galactic chemical evolution” at the Instituto de Astrofisica e Ciências do Espaço, Universidade do Porto, Portugal, July 10, 2019
  8. Delivered contributed talk on “Studying mixing in the outer layers using signatures of the acoustic glitches from Kepler data” and participated in the TASC4/KASC11 workshop, Aarhus University, Denmark, July 13, 2018
  9. Delivered contributed talk on “Constraining additional mixing processes using the observed helium signature in oscillation frequencies from Kepler” and participated in the EWASS special session, Liverpool, UK, April 3, 2018
  10. Attended the summer school on "Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA)", University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, August 14–18, 2017
  11. Delivered contributed talk on “Seismic estimate of the envelope helium abundance for stars in Kepler seismic LEGACY sample” and participated in the TASC3/KASC10 workshop, University of Birmingham, UK, July 19, 2017
  12. Delivered invited seminar on “Seismic study of Sun-like stars using glitch analysis and machine learning approaches” at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, India, September 14, 2016
  13. Delivered invited seminar on “Asteroseismology of Sun-like main-sequence stars: inferences using acoustic glitch signatures and machine learning approaches” at the Aarhus University, Denmark, May 26, 2016
  14. Delivered contributed talk on “Asteroseismic inference of convection-zone depth and envelope helium abundance” and participated in the Advances in Seismology: A Dialogue Across Disciplines conference, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India, December 9, 2015
  15. Delivered invited seminar on “Seismology of solar-like stars” in the Japan-Asia Youth Exchange Program in Science, Osaka University, Japan, November 30, 2015
  16. Attended the DWIH Indo-German winter school on "Solar and stellar astrophysics", Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India, November 3–7, 2014
  17. Attended the 24th Evry Schatzman school on "Asteroseismology and next generation stellar models", Station Biologique de Roscoff, France, September 28–October 3, 2014
  18. Attended the 9th Heidelberg Astronomy summer school on "Frontiers of stellar structure and evolution", Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Heidelberg, Germany, September 22–27, 2014
  19. Attended the 4th IIA-PennState school on "Astrostatistics", Vainu Bappu Observatory, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, India, July 22–29, 2013
  20. Attended the winter school on "Astronomical and cosmological surveys", Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India, December 10–17, 2012
  1. Awarded the Spanish Juan de la Cierva Incorporación Fellowship (2021); amount 93,000 Euro (~INR 75 lakhs) for 3 years.
  2. Invited for interview for the French CNES Postdoctoral Fellowship (2020). I had to withdraw the application at this stage because I already accepted an offer from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
  3. Offered Research Associate position (2020), University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. I could not travel to Australia because of the border restrictions imposed to fight against COVID19, and eventually declined the offer.
  4. Offered Postdoctoral Fellowship (2016), Instituto de Astrofisica e Ciências do Espaço, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal. Declined.
  5. Ratanbai Jerajani Award (2014), the best seminar in the area of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India.
  6. Junior Research Fellowship (2010), in the subject of Physical Sciences under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India.