Denis Erkal
@derkal.bsky.social
Astrophysicist working on dark matter, near-field cosmology, and galaxy formation. All opinions are my own. He/him.
See openai.com/index/navier... for OpenAI’s description of how they solved the problem. What can we do in Astro with tools like this?🧪☄️
Holy forking shit. This is seriously impressive. Some controversy here since Levent Alpöge and Tristan Buckmaster solved this problem with AI as well (see mastodon.social/@tristanbuck...) and their solution has been fed into Codex. But either way, amazing what humans with AI can do!🧪☄️
One of the trickiest problems in mathematics has now fallen to AI after just days of work. The groundbreaking result was announced amid rumour after similar, but less complete work, also created with AI, was announced just hours before
September 8, 2026 at 8:41 PM
See openai.com/index/navier... for OpenAI’s description of how they solved the problem. What can we do in Astro with tools like this?🧪☄️
Holy forking shit. This is seriously impressive. Some controversy here since Levent Alpöge and Tristan Buckmaster solved this problem with AI as well (see mastodon.social/@tristanbuck...) and their solution has been fed into Codex. But either way, amazing what humans with AI can do!🧪☄️
One of the trickiest problems in mathematics has now fallen to AI after just days of work. The groundbreaking result was announced amid rumour after similar, but less complete work, also created with AI, was announced just hours before
OpenAI has solved the Navier-Stokes Millennium problem using $15m of AI effort | New Scientist
One of the trickiest problems in mathematics has now fallen to AI after just days of work. The groundbreaking result was announced amid rumour after similar, but less complete work, also created with AI, was announced just hours before
www.newscientist.com
September 8, 2026 at 8:38 PM
Holy forking shit. This is seriously impressive. Some controversy here since Levent Alpöge and Tristan Buckmaster solved this problem with AI as well (see mastodon.social/@tristanbuck...) and their solution has been fed into Codex. But either way, amazing what humans with AI can do!🧪☄️
One week left to apply for this position on stellar streams. Happy to answer any questions so please let me know! aas.org/jobregister/...
July 23, 2026 at 3:34 PM
One week left to apply for this position on stellar streams. Happy to answer any questions so please let me know! aas.org/jobregister/...
Reposted by Denis Erkal
Come and work at Surrey! 😀
And now the AAS job link: aas.org/jobregister/.... Please let me know if you have any questions about the position! 🔭☄️🧪
July 14, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Come and work at Surrey! 😀
And now the AAS job link: aas.org/jobregister/.... Please let me know if you have any questions about the position! 🔭☄️🧪
July 14, 2026 at 3:38 PM
And now the AAS job link: aas.org/jobregister/.... Please let me know if you have any questions about the position! 🔭☄️🧪
Reposted by Denis Erkal
A great opportunity to come work with Denis, Eugene and the Surrey Astro team! 🧪☄️🔭
Interested in a 3 year postdoc working on stellar streams and dark matter? Come join our amazing Astro group in Surrey to work with me and Eugene Vasiliev. Details here and the deadline is July 30th. Let me know if you have any questions! jobs.surrey.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx... 🧪🔭☄️
Job Vacancy at the University of Surrey: Research Fellow in Stellar Streams
The University of Surrey is a global community of ideas and people, dedicated to life-changing education and research. We are ambitious and have a bold vision of what we want to achieve - shaping ours...
jobs.surrey.ac.uk
July 10, 2026 at 1:45 PM
A great opportunity to come work with Denis, Eugene and the Surrey Astro team! 🧪☄️🔭
Interested in a 3 year postdoc working on stellar streams and dark matter? Come join our amazing Astro group in Surrey to work with me and Eugene Vasiliev. Details here and the deadline is July 30th. Let me know if you have any questions! jobs.surrey.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx... 🧪🔭☄️
Job Vacancy at the University of Surrey: Research Fellow in Stellar Streams
The University of Surrey is a global community of ideas and people, dedicated to life-changing education and research. We are ambitious and have a bold vision of what we want to achieve - shaping ours...
jobs.surrey.ac.uk
July 10, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Interested in a 3 year postdoc working on stellar streams and dark matter? Come join our amazing Astro group in Surrey to work with me and Eugene Vasiliev. Details here and the deadline is July 30th. Let me know if you have any questions! jobs.surrey.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx... 🧪🔭☄️
Interested in working on stellar streams in the UK? I’ll be posting a 3 year postdoc position to work with me and Eugene Vasiliev on measuring dark matter subhalo properties with streams in a few days. Interviews will be in early August with a start date of October 1st. 🧪☄️
June 29, 2026 at 8:27 PM
Interested in working on stellar streams in the UK? I’ll be posting a 3 year postdoc position to work with me and Eugene Vasiliev on measuring dark matter subhalo properties with streams in a few days. Interviews will be in early August with a start date of October 1st. 🧪☄️
Reposted by Denis Erkal
The group in Surrey is absolutely lovely (I visited them last month) so I can highly recommend them!
Interested in applying for Astro fellowships in the UK? Come to Surrey! We are a fun group and will help you hone your application. Our deadline for ERF/URF consideration is July 8th. For more details of all the fellowships and how to contact us, see www.surrey.ac.uk/astrophysics... 🔭☄️
June 24, 2026 at 1:24 PM
The group in Surrey is absolutely lovely (I visited them last month) so I can highly recommend them!
Reposted by Denis Erkal
Want to join Surrey Astro? Get in touch if you want to learn more.
Interested in applying for Astro fellowships in the UK? Come to Surrey! We are a fun group and will help you hone your application. Our deadline for ERF/URF consideration is July 8th. For more details of all the fellowships and how to contact us, see www.surrey.ac.uk/astrophysics... 🔭☄️
June 24, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Want to join Surrey Astro? Get in touch if you want to learn more.
Interested in applying for Astro fellowships in the UK? Come to Surrey! We are a fun group and will help you hone your application. Our deadline for ERF/URF consideration is July 8th. For more details of all the fellowships and how to contact us, see www.surrey.ac.uk/astrophysics... 🔭☄️
June 15, 2026 at 10:17 AM
Interested in applying for Astro fellowships in the UK? Come to Surrey! We are a fun group and will help you hone your application. Our deadline for ERF/URF consideration is July 8th. For more details of all the fellowships and how to contact us, see www.surrey.ac.uk/astrophysics... 🔭☄️
Here’s our press release about Arrakihs! Lots of cool science will hopefully come out of it and I’m especially excited about what can be done with the long streams it will detect. 🔭☄️🧪
www.surrey.ac.uk/news/esa-off...
www.surrey.ac.uk/news/esa-off...
June 11, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Here’s our press release about Arrakihs! Lots of cool science will hopefully come out of it and I’m especially excited about what can be done with the long streams it will detect. 🔭☄️🧪
www.surrey.ac.uk/news/esa-off...
www.surrey.ac.uk/news/esa-off...
Forgot the tags! 🔭☄️🧪
The Arrakihs mission has been adopted as ESA's next F-class mission, with an expected launch in 2030! It will look at the low surface brightness outskirts of 80 Milky Way-like galaxies.
www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
ESA adopts galactic archaeology mission Arrakihs
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Science Programme Committee has adopted the Arrakihs mission. Planned for launch by the end of 2030, Arrakihs will capture the faint light from nearby galaxy haloes. ...
www.esa.int
June 10, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Forgot the tags! 🔭☄️🧪
The Arrakihs mission has been adopted as ESA's next F-class mission, with an expected launch in 2030! It will look at the low surface brightness outskirts of 80 Milky Way-like galaxies.
www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
ESA adopts galactic archaeology mission Arrakihs
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Science Programme Committee has adopted the Arrakihs mission. Planned for launch by the end of 2030, Arrakihs will capture the faint light from nearby galaxy haloes. ...
www.esa.int
June 10, 2026 at 4:56 PM
The Arrakihs mission has been adopted as ESA's next F-class mission, with an expected launch in 2030! It will look at the low surface brightness outskirts of 80 Milky Way-like galaxies.
www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
Reposted by Denis Erkal
Honored to receive the 2026 American Physical Society Edward A. Bouchet Award!
To see how the DEI ban in Ohio influences our university, please see the OSU announcement of the award (left) vs the actual APS citation for the award (right).
To see how the DEI ban in Ohio influences our university, please see the OSU announcement of the award (left) vs the actual APS citation for the award (right).
November 13, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Honored to receive the 2026 American Physical Society Edward A. Bouchet Award!
To see how the DEI ban in Ohio influences our university, please see the OSU announcement of the award (left) vs the actual APS citation for the award (right).
To see how the DEI ban in Ohio influences our university, please see the OSU announcement of the award (left) vs the actual APS citation for the award (right).
Reposted by Denis Erkal
We come with receipts🧾
Tidal tails are cosmic “receipts” of galactic drama, showing who collided with whom. Rubin's camera is sharp enough to catch wind of even the faintest intergalactic tea.
No need to worry about "pics or it didn't happen" with Rubin keeping a close eye 😎 🔭🧪
Tidal tails are cosmic “receipts” of galactic drama, showing who collided with whom. Rubin's camera is sharp enough to catch wind of even the faintest intergalactic tea.
No need to worry about "pics or it didn't happen" with Rubin keeping a close eye 😎 🔭🧪
October 24, 2025 at 10:05 PM
We come with receipts🧾
Tidal tails are cosmic “receipts” of galactic drama, showing who collided with whom. Rubin's camera is sharp enough to catch wind of even the faintest intergalactic tea.
No need to worry about "pics or it didn't happen" with Rubin keeping a close eye 😎 🔭🧪
Tidal tails are cosmic “receipts” of galactic drama, showing who collided with whom. Rubin's camera is sharp enough to catch wind of even the faintest intergalactic tea.
No need to worry about "pics or it didn't happen" with Rubin keeping a close eye 😎 🔭🧪
Reposted by Denis Erkal
Paper day! My PhD student Mariana Júlio, with @readdark.bsky.social, @pengfeili.bsky.social and others, studies the internal dynamics of dwarf galaxies and finds they don't agree with the Radial Acceleration Relation, challenging the dark matter alternative MOND.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.06905
🔭☄️🧪
1/7
arxiv.org/abs/2510.06905
🔭☄️🧪
1/7
The radial acceleration relation at the EDGE of galaxy formation: testing its universality in low-mass dwarf galaxies
A tight correlation between the baryonic and observed acceleration of galaxies has been reported over a wide range of mass ($10^8 < M_{\rm bar}/{\rm M}_\odot < 10^{11}$) - the Radial Acceleration Rela...
arxiv.org
October 9, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Paper day! My PhD student Mariana Júlio, with @readdark.bsky.social, @pengfeili.bsky.social and others, studies the internal dynamics of dwarf galaxies and finds they don't agree with the Radial Acceleration Relation, challenging the dark matter alternative MOND.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.06905
🔭☄️🧪
1/7
arxiv.org/abs/2510.06905
🔭☄️🧪
1/7
4MOST’s social media account is live! First light expected on October 21st! (1pm UK time) 🔭🧪
Welcome to the official 4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST) Bluesky account! Stay tuned for our first-light events coming very soon, and updates on all of the amazing science we will be completing over the years to come!
📷: Y. Beletsky/ESO
#4most #ESO #telescope #astronomy
📷: Y. Beletsky/ESO
#4most #ESO #telescope #astronomy
September 30, 2025 at 12:57 PM
4MOST’s social media account is live! First light expected on October 21st! (1pm UK time) 🔭🧪
Reposted by Denis Erkal
Let us name those who should take responsibility for this situation. The senior management of universities failed to negotiate a sustainable system of funding, and then sleep-walked into mess.
But will they be held accountable? Of course not.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
But will they be held accountable? Of course not.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Quarter of UK university physics departments at risk of closing, survey finds
Four out of five making staff cuts as physicists say findings are ‘great concern’ for UK’s leadership in important areas
www.theguardian.com
September 20, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Let us name those who should take responsibility for this situation. The senior management of universities failed to negotiate a sustainable system of funding, and then sleep-walked into mess.
But will they be held accountable? Of course not.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
But will they be held accountable? Of course not.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Here’s the Cygnus loop with a Seestar S50. It’s so big that one mosaic won’t fit it so I stitched two of them together. The total exposure is about 4 hours. It would be cool to go even wider and deeper. 🔭
August 22, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Here’s the Cygnus loop with a Seestar S50. It’s so big that one mosaic won’t fit it so I stitched two of them together. The total exposure is about 4 hours. It would be cool to go even wider and deeper. 🔭
Reposted by Denis Erkal
August 17, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Reposted by Denis Erkal
Stranded in Italy thanks to Air Canada. They say by email that they can't find any flights in the next three days and offer a refund -- ignoring EU 261/2004 regulations that they have to rebook on *any* airline. They do not answer the phone.
AC has absolute contempt for its customers and employees.
AC has absolute contempt for its customers and employees.
August 17, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Stranded in Italy thanks to Air Canada. They say by email that they can't find any flights in the next three days and offer a refund -- ignoring EU 261/2004 regulations that they have to rebook on *any* airline. They do not answer the phone.
AC has absolute contempt for its customers and employees.
AC has absolute contempt for its customers and employees.
Reposted by Denis Erkal
Episode 17 has dropped! Tune in to hear Payel & Michelle talk about about a dark matter subhalo detection, the problem(s) with super massive black holes, massive star clusters in the Sparkler, speedy white dwarfs and more! 🔭☄️ starxiv.com/2025/08/04/e...
August 4, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Episode 17 has dropped! Tune in to hear Payel & Michelle talk about about a dark matter subhalo detection, the problem(s) with super massive black holes, massive star clusters in the Sparkler, speedy white dwarfs and more! 🔭☄️ starxiv.com/2025/08/04/e...
Anyone else notice any weird unit issues with Google lately? (3e19 m)/(1 kpc) gives 55.7 instead of ~1. Not good if you like using Google for quick unit conversions 🔭
July 24, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Anyone else notice any weird unit issues with Google lately? (3e19 m)/(1 kpc) gives 55.7 instead of ~1. Not good if you like using Google for quick unit conversions 🔭
Reposted by Denis Erkal
New potential interstellar object in the South: 168 hr arc but e already 9+/-1. H=11.
Follow-up encouraged! 🔭
Follow-up encouraged! 🔭
Scout: NEOCP Hazard Assessment
NASA's Near-Earth Object (NEO) web-site. Data related to Earth impact risk, close-approaches, and much more.
cneos.jpl.nasa.gov
July 2, 2025 at 3:32 AM
New potential interstellar object in the South: 168 hr arc but e already 9+/-1. H=11.
Follow-up encouraged! 🔭
Follow-up encouraged! 🔭