About Me
Education:
Research Interests: Theoretical Astrophysics, Exoplanets, Accretion Disks, Planet Formation, Black Hole Binaries, Orbital Dynamics
Publications: ADS
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Research
Group Website Our group's research blog/website can be found here
Current Research Group Members
Isabelle Bäuerle
Isabelle Bäuerle is an undergraduate student at Northern Arizona University
interested in the secular evolution of hierarchical multiple systems, with a special focus on warm Jupiter and
proto-hot Jupiter dynamics.
Alex Jaraba
Alex Jaraba is an undergraduate student at Northern Arizona University
interested in the dynamics of binary and multiple massive black hole dynamics within nuclear clusters.
Noah Gordon
Noah Gordon is an undergraduate student at Northern Arizona University
interested in the dynamics of gaseous eccentricity normal modes in protoplanetary disks.
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Teaching
Teaching:
At NAU I have been teaching the following courses:
AST 499/599 "Orbital Dynamics". (Spring 2025),
AST-501 "Fundamentals of Planetary Science I" a.k.a. "Planet Formation" (Fall 2023),
Outreach:
Equity & Inclusion:
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Prospective Students
Currently, I am looking for students to join my research group.
Some of the research topics being offered to prospective students are:
Massive black hole binaries: I am looking to recruit students interested in working on the dynamics and evolution of accreting
massive black hole binaries embedded in galactic nuclear clusters.
Protoplanet accretion: I plan to develop high-resolution, three-dimensional computational models of proto-planet accretion.
This project will characterize accretion and the planetary atmosphere through 3D numerical simulations with
state-of-the-art numerical tools, including physical and numerical models for radiation hydrodynamics,
dust-dynamics, and self-gravity through a hybrid approach, consisting in the combination of the publicly available
hydrodynamics codes FARGO3D and AREPO to simulate planets embedded in the disk with improved boundary conditions.
Obliquity dynamics: I am looking for students to work on the secular dynamics of oblique stars and planets. In particular, we look
to explore the role of rheolohy and dynamical tides on the spin evolution of stellar and planetary bodies.
Stellar triples in the Galactic field: I am looking for a student interested in work on the dynamics of few bodies subject to large
such as the Galactic tide, or the tidal field of a galactic nuclear cluster.
Solid/Fluid-dynamical Simulations of Asteroid/Planet Impacts: I am looking for students interested in developing a new finite-volume method
to solve the equations of solid mechanics on a moving Voronoi mesh. The purpose of this project is to simulate high-velocity impacts between asteroids and
between planetary-sized bodies using realistic equations of state and stress tensors.
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Contact
Email: Diego.Munoz at nau.edu
Address: Physical Sciences Building
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