Research project The infrared view of supernovae from the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a NASA/ESA/CSA joint venture scheduled for launch in 2018, will revolutionize our view of the Universe in the infrared. One of the key science areas will be the study of supernovae in the 1-27 micron range, opening up a window crucial to the study of these elemental factories in the late ,cool phase when we can diagnose nucleosynthesis content. My proposed research program concerns development of theoretical models needed to understand supernova emission in the infrared, and combine this with leading JWST observations. Building upon several years of state of the art supernova modelling, the program will take the necessary steps to implement the physics of molecules and dust that govern the infrared emission, and provide unique tools to constrain both the chemistry in the supernova and the implications for the atomic optical emission. This will link to an on-going program to systematically investigate the nucleosynthesis of supernovae and building the first empirically based theory for the origin of the elements.