Amy Lien

Postdoctoral Research Associate
Swift/BAT team, code 661
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
amy.y.lien@nasa.gov

Hi, I am a postdoc at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Maryland, Baltimor County. My general research interests lie in star-formation history, stellar evolution, and cosmology with multi-messenger studies, especially in fields related to gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and supernovae, which provide unique probes to the early universe. Furthermore, I am interested in understanding instrumental behaviors, in order to correctly handling the instrument selection biases and to connect theoretical models to observational data.

I am currently working with the Swift/BAT team on GRB analysis. We developed the "trigger simulator" code that is capable of simulating the complex BAT trigger algorithm. We use this code to study potential instrumental selection effects and explore the GRB instrinsic poperties, and also the detectability of high-redshift GRBs. My graduate work with Prof. Brian Fields at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign focuses on forecasts of core-collapse supernova detections for upcoming surveys, such as LSST (optical) and EVLA (radio), and explore potential supernova physics via multi-messenger studies.

• Trigger Simulator Code

• The Swift/BAT GRB Catalog

• Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

• Major Publications
  • The Third Swift Burst Alert Telescope Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog
    Amy Lien, Takanori Sakamoto et al.
    Astrophysical Journal, Vol.829 Issue 1, id.7, 47 pp. (2016)
    arXiv:1606.01956
  • Modeling the Swift BAT Trigger Algorithm with Machine Learning
    Philip B. Graff, Amy Lien, John G. Baker, and Takanori Sakamoto
    The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 818, Issue 1, article id. 55, 10 pp. (2016)
    arXiv:1509.01228
  • Modeling the Swift BAT Trigger Algorithm with Machine Learning
    Jon Hakkila, Amy Lien, Takanori Sakamoto et al.
    The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 815, Issue 2, article id. 134, 16 pp. (2015)
    arXiv:1511.03695
  • Probing the Cosmic Gamma-ray Bursts Rate with Trigger Simulations for the Swift Burst Alert Telescope
    Amy Lien, Takanori Sakamoto, Neil Gehrels, David M. Palmer, Scott D. Barthelmy, Carlo Graziani, and John K. Cannizzo
    Astrophysical Journal, Vol.783 Issue 1, id.24, 2014
    arXiv:1311.4567
  • The Diffuse Gamma-ray Background from Type Ia Supernovae
    Amy Lien and Brian D. Fields
    Astrophysical Journal, Vol.747 Issue 2, id.120, 2012
    arXiv:1311.4567
  • Radio Supernovae in the Great Survey Era
    Amy Lien, Nachiketa Chakraborty, Brian D. Fields, and Athol Kemball
    Astrophysical Journal, Vol.740 740, Issue 1, id.23, 2011
    arXiv:1107.0775
  • Synoptic Sky Surveys and the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background:
    Removing Astrophysical Uncertainties and Revealing Invisible Supernovae
    Amy Lien, Brian D. Fields, and John F. Beacom
    Physical Review D, Vol. 81, Issue 8, id. 083001, 2010
    arXiv:1001.3678
  • Core-Collapse Supernovae
    Amy Lien and Brian D. Fields
    LSST Science Book contribution, pp. 401-403, 2009
    Online version: http://www.lsst.org/lsst/scibook"
  • Cosmic core-collapse supernovae from upcoming sky surveys
    Amy Lien and Brian D. Fields
    Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Issue 01, pp. 047 (2009)
    arXiv:0902.0979

• Selected Talks
  • The Third Swift Burst Alert Telescope Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog: Instrumental Sensitivity and Implication on the High-Redshift GRBs
    The Eighth Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium, Huntsville, Alabama, October 2016
    Link: PDF
  • Swift/BAT as a Triggering Facility
    The Fouth AMON Workshop, Penn State University, Pennsylvania, December 2015
    Link: PDF
  • Gamma-ray Bursts from the Swift Burst Alert Telescope: Probing Intrinsic Distributions with Trigger Simulations
    Seminar, CEA Saclay, Paris, France, September 2015
    Link: PDF pptx
  • The Third Swift Burst Alert Telescope Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog
    Swift: 10 Years of Discovery, Rome, Italy, Dec 2014
  • Right off the BAT: Trigger Simulations of Swift Gamma-ray Bursts
    Summer Intern Brown Bag Lunch Talk, Goddard, DC, July 2014
  • Connecting Core-Collapse Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Great Survey Era
    Seminar, Seminar, Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan, July 2013
  • Probing the Cosmic Gamma-Ray Burst Rate with Trigger Simulations of the Swift Burst Alert Telescope
    Huntsville Gamma-ray Burst Symposium, Nashville, TN, April 2013
  • Core-Collapse Supernovae in the Great Survey Era
    Seminar, National Tsing-Hua University, Taiwan, August 2011
  • Revealing Optically Invisible Core-Collapse Supernovae in the Great Survey Era
    Seminar, Goddard Space Flight Center, July 2011
    Link: PDF
  • Core-Collapse Supernovae in the Great Survey Era: Impact on Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
    The Second Annual CCAPP Symposium, Ohio State University, April 2011
  • Core-Collapse Supernovae in the Great Survey Era: Impact on Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
    Triangle Nuclear Theory Colloquium, North Carolina State University, February 2011
  • A Summary of the Astro2010 Decadal Survey
    CTA Seminar on Theoretical Astrophysics & General Relativity, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010
  • The Cosmic Supernova Inventory from Future Sky Surveys: Revealing Invisible Collapse with Neutrinos
    The 10th Great Lakes Cosmology Workshop, University of Chicago
  • Cosmic Supernovae from the Square Kilometer Array
    Student Seminar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010
    
  • The Cosmic Supernova Inventory from Future Sky Surveys:
    Cosmic Star Formation, Neutrinos, and Invisible Collapse
    CTA Seminar on Theoretical Astrophysics & General Relativity, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010
    
  • The Cosmic Supernova Inventory from Future Sky Surveys: Revealing Invisible Collapse with Neutrinos
    The 10th Great Lakes Cosmology Workshop, University of Chicago, 2010
    
  • Synoptic Sky Surveys and Cosmic Supernova Neutrinos
    Student Seminar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009
    
  • Absolute Magnitude Distribution of Cosmic Core-Collapse Supernovae
    Astro596 (Virtual Observatory), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009
    
  • Cosmic Core-Collapse Supernovae and Neutrino Background in Upcoming Sky Surveys
    Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, 2008
    
  • Cosmic Core-Collapse Supernovae from Upcoming Sky Surveys
    Student Seminar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008
    
  • Mock Observation for the South Pole Telescope
    Student Seminar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007