The investigators will use the CHARA Interferometer to observe and analyze the inner regions of planet-forming disks around Young Stellar Objects. Their work will test models of accreting protoplanets, stellar surfaces, spectral variability of Young Stellar Objects, and non-axis protoplanetary disk symmetries. As part of the analysis, they will develop critical imaging software using Compressed Sensing Theory for image reconstruction and analysis of the data. The work has significant broader impacts in that the algorithms used for image reconstruction will be publicly available and also applicable to astronomical interferometric data obtained with other instruments, including those working at other wavelength regimes (such as radio), and may be used by many astronomers in the community.
