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UCL Astrophysics Group

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Mengtao Tang, Research Associate

Mengtao Tang
I am a post-doc in the First Light group at UCL working with Prof. Richard Ellis. My research focuses on understanding the nature of distant star-forming galaxies and their role in cosmic reionization. I mainly study low mass, metal-poor star-forming galaxies with extremely intense nebular emission lines at redshift z ~ 1 - 3 using spectroscopy. These galaxies are considered as analogs of reionization-era systems. I aim to provide constraints on their contribution to the reionization of intergalactic hydrogen by quantifying the production rate and escape fraction of ionizing photons of these systems. I also study the physical properties of their stellar populations and nebular gas. I will use my work to help guiding future spectroscopic observations targeting on the most distant galaxies with the next generation large telescopes such as JWST and GMT.