Thomas Hilder

The unreasonable effectiveness of linear models

Linear models are a powerful inference tool due to their speed and flexibility. We leveraged this power to build very large non-parametric models of spatially resolved spectra, which we applied to the exoALMA sub-mm planet-hunting campaign, and the SDSS Local Volume Mapper (LVM) in optical. We extracted super-resolution maps of velocity substructures in 12CO line emission for exoALMA and created a general method for calculating robust uncertainties on other data products. For the LVM we modelled the contributions from many spectral lines together to create intensity maps across the sky for each, which will be valuable for determining how energy and momentum is distributed and transported through the galaxy on both small and large scales.