Summary of Research
My research focuses on the application of powerful lasers to the study of extreme plasma physics, emphasizing astrophysical phenomena. Much of my work is oriented around simulations of laser-plasma interactions at extremely high intensity, uncovering signatures of complex plasma processes that occur in the strongest electromagnetic fields in the universe (like those around neutron stars and black holes). Through the Laboratory Residency Graduate Fellowship, I will extend my research in a new direction: collisionless shocks. These shocks, which are caused by plasma instabilities, can be observed in many astrophysical environments, such as Earth's bow shock or expanding supernova remnants. They can also be studied through scaled laboratory experiments on Earth. Collisionless shocks are known to produce high-velocity ions, but the dominant process by which they do so remains an open question. In my fellowship, I will conduct high-fidelity simulations of magnetized collisionless shocks in order to investigate potential ion acceleration mechanisms. I will then compare my simulation results to real data taken from collisionless shock experiments at high-energy laser facilities. Through the comparison, I will identify evidence of ion acceleration in the experimental data and determine which mechanisms are prevalent, contributing to an improved understanding of the complex physics of astrophysical shocks.
Publications
JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS
C. Redshaw and M. R. Edwards, "Radiation reaction effects on particle dynamics in intense counterpropagating laser pulses", Physics of Plasmas 32, 112108 (2025).
M. Lei, S. E. Clark, R. Morel, E. Allys, I. S. Butsky, C. Redshaw, and D. B. Fielding, "Neutral gas phase distribution from HI morphology: phase separation with scattering spectra and variational autoencoders", The Astrophysical Journal 993, 4 (2025).
K. Ou, V. M. Perez-Ramirez, S. Cao, C. Redshaw, J. Lee, M. M. Wang, J. Mikhailova, P. Michel, and M. R. Edwards, "High-energy transient gas pinholes via saturated absorption", Optics Letters 50, 1309-1312 (2025).
X. Wang and the UVCANDELS collaboration (75 others, including C. Redshaw), "The Lyman continuum escape fraction of star-forming galaxies at 2.4 < z < 3.0 from UVCANDELS", The Astrophysical Journal 980, 74 (2025).
V. Mehta and the UVCANDELS collaboration (78 others, including C. Redshaw), "UVCANDELS: catalogs of photometric redshifts and galaxy physical properties", The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 275, 17 (2024).
L. Sun and the UVCANDELS collaboration (76 others, including C. Redshaw), "The ultraviolet luminosity function at 0.6 < z < 1 from UVCANDELS", The Astrophysical Journal 972, 8 (2024).
X. Wang and the UVCANDELS collaboration (76 others, including C. Redshaw), "Ultraviolet and blue optical imaging of UVCANDELS", Research Notes of the AAS 8, 26 (2024).
T. A. Ashcraft, T. McCabe, C. Redshaw, and the UVCANDELS collaboration (22 others), "Deep Large Binocular Camera r-band observations of the GOODS-N field", Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 135, 024101 (2023).
T. McCabe, C. Redshaw, and the UVCANDELS collaboration (25 others), "Searching for intragroup light in deep u-band imaging of the COSMOS field", Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 135, 064101 (2023).
R. Windhorst and the JWST PEARLS team (84 others, including C. Redshaw), "JWST PEARLS. Prime extragalactic areas for reionization and lensing science: project overview and first results", The Astronomical Journal 165, 13 (2022).
C. Redshaw and the UVCANDELS collaboration (25 others), "Seeing-sorted Large Binocular Camera u-band imaging of the Extended Groth Strip", Research Notes of the AAS 6, 63 (2022).
B. J. Skromme, M. L. Wong, C. J. Redshaw, M. A. O'Donnell, "Teaching series and parallel connections", IEEE Transactions on Education 65, 461-470 (2022).
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
C. Redshaw & M. R. Edwards, "Ultra-high-intensity regimes of laser self-focusing", 54th Annual Anomalous Absorption Conference, Whitefish, MT (2026).
C. Redshaw & M. R. Edwards, "Radiation reaction effects on particle dynamics in intense counterpropagating laser pulses" [Poster], 67th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, Long Beach, CA (2025).
C. Redshaw & M. R. Edwards, "Radiative effects on particle direction in counterpropagating laser pulses" [Poster], 53rd Annual Anomalous Absorption Conference, Sedona, AZ (2025).
Awards
Graduation with Distinction, Arizona State University, 2023
Outstanding Graduate in Mechanical Engineering, Arizona State University, 2022
Summa Cum Laude, Arizona State University, 2022
Dean's List, Arizona State University, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022
National Merit Scholar, 2018