Israel Carrillo

Advisor:  Alisha Clark  

Research 

I am a first-year graduate student working on mineral physics and planetary science through at-parameter (up to 200 GPa, T > 4000 K) shock experiments on silica melts, which is what planetary mantles are primarily composed of. The goal of these experiments is to understand how the presence of volatile impurities in vitreous silica affects the thermodynamic properties of the melts. From these experiments, equations of state can be derived that can be implemented in planetary structure models and help understand how volatiles are retained in planetary mantles throughout their evolution. These equations of state can also help in providing constraints for planetary formation models meant to reproduce observational data of rocky planet masses and radii.

Education

I got my B.S. in Physics & a minor in Geophysics and Planetary Physics from the University of California Los Angeles from 2019-2023. 

I worked on exoplanet formation modeling research in the Planet Formation Group at UCLA with my undergraduate advisor, Hilke Schlichting, and her collaborator, Edward Young. I applied their Super-Earth and Sub-Neptune thermochemical planetary evolution model to replicate the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system's masses and radii and helped verify their model as an explanatory mechanism for the reduced bulk density of the planets in comparison to Earth.