Nicole St-Louis
- Directrice de département
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Faculté des arts et des sciences - Département de physique
- Professeure titulaire
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Faculté des arts et des sciences - Département de physique
Complexe des sciences office B-3415
Courriels
stlouis@astro.umontreal.ca (Travail)
Web : Site web de l’unité de recherche
Web : CV en anglais
Web : LinkedIn
Web : Autre site web
Post-doctorat
1993
, Astronomie et astrophysique , Université de Montréal (Canada)
Doctorat
1990
, Physique , University College London (Royaume-Uni)
Maîtrise
1987
, Physique , Université de Montréal (Canada)
Baccalauréat
1985
, Physique , Université de Montréal (Canada)
Affiliations
Education Programs
- Fundamental and Applied Sciences
- Fundamental and Applied Sciences
- Fundamental and Applied Sciences
- Fundamental and Applied Sciences
- Fundamental and Applied Sciences
- Fundamental and Applied Sciences
Courses
- PHY3030 Projet de fin d'études
- PHY3030 Projet de fin d'études
- PHY3701 Éléments de physique stellaire
Areas of Expertise
- Fundamental astronomy
- Fundamental aspects of astrophysics
- Spectroscopy and spectrophotometry
- Polarimetry
- Time series analysis, time variability
- Corotating streams
- Circumstellar shells
- Stellar rotation
- Mass loss and stellar winds
- Emission-line stars (Of, Be, LBV, Wolf-Rayet stars)
My research is mainly on the wind from the most massive stars. In view of their great luminosity - reaching one million times that of the Sun - these stars lose a large proportion of their mass over their lifetimes. This stellar wind is not symmetrical or homogenous. Not only does it contain small-scale inhomogeneities relating to turbulence, but in some cases also large-scale structures. These structures are particularly intriguing, since they are created by an as-yet unidentified mechanism occurring at the surface of the star.
The possible mechanisms include magnetic fields and pulses, two important physical processes in the evolution of massive stars, but about which we still have very little information.
The consequences of these large-scale structures for observable data (spectrum, photometry, polarization rate) can also help us to determine a fundamental parameter of these stars: their rotation velocity. This important detail is usually impossible to measure for the massive stars I am studying, since their surface is completely concealed behind the very dense wind. Because the large-scale structures are attached to the surface, identifying a period in the star's spectral or luminous variations lets us deduce the rotation velocity.
Student supervision Expand all Collapse all
Cycle : Doctoral
Grade : Ph. D.
Research projects Expand all Collapse all
The structure of the winds of hot, massive stars and the traces they leave on their surrounding interstellar medium Projet de recherche au Canada / 2024 - 2030
Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec - CRAQ Projet de recherche au Canada / 2024 - 2026
Studying WolfRayet Stars Using Their Wind Structure and Circumstellar Nebula Projet de recherche au Canada / 2018 - 2025
Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec (CRAQ) Projet de recherche au Canada / 2017 - 2025
Supplément COVID-19 CRSNG_Studying WolfRayet Stars Using Their Wind Structure and Circumstellar Nebula Projet de recherche au Canada / 2020 - 2021
Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec (CRAQ) Projet de recherche au Canada / 2016 - 2018
THE WINDS OF WOLF-RAYET STARS : THEIR STRENGTH AND STRUCTURE Projet de recherche au Canada / 2012 - 2018
CENTRE DE RECHERCHE EN ASTROPHYSIQUE DU QUEBEC Projet de recherche au Canada / 2008 - 2017
Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic et laboratoire d'astrophysique expérimentale Projet de recherche au Canada / 2009 - 2013
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