Dr. Slawa Kabanovic

01 — About

Postdoctoral Researcher in Astrophysics

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Astronomy of Heidelberg University, working with the PHANGS team in the group of Dr. Kathryn Kreckel. My research investigates how stellar feedback shapes the interstellar medium (ISM) and drives galaxy evolution.

I bring together three complementary strengths: multi-wavelength observational expertise (SOFIA/upGREAT, JWST, IRAM 30 m, APEX), a deep understanding of the multi-phase ISM and the role of stellar feedback in regulating its structure and evolution, and a strong track record in astroinformatics, having developed several numerical tools for the interpretation of complex, multi-scale spectral datasets.

As PI of the SOFIA Orion-Legacy program (DLR-funded) and co-I of the SOFIA Legacy Program FEEDBACK, I established a detailed understanding of feedback processes on resolved Galactic scales. As a member of the PHANGS collaboration, I now extend this work to nearby galaxies observed with JWST, bridging the gap between resolved Galactic ISM diagnostics and the statistical study of feedback across diverse galaxy populations.

Stellar Feedback Galaxy Evolution Multi-Phase ISM [CII] 158 μm SOFIA/upGREAT PHANGS–JWST Radiative Transfer Persistent Homology Machine Learning FYST/CCAT

02 — Research

Research Areas

Stellar Feedback & Galaxy Evolution

Massive stars inject energy and momentum into their surroundings through radiation, winds, and supernovae, evacuating cavities and sweeping up dense shells that can both trigger and suppress star formation. Using SOFIA/upGREAT [C II] observations from the FEEDBACK Legacy Program, my group has shown that wind-driven bubbles trigger star formation on timescales as short as ~0.1 Myr while simultaneously dispersing the natal molecular clouds — establishing positive and negative feedback as competing processes. With JWST observations from PHANGS, I now extend this work to entire nearby galaxies, characterising feedback-driven structures across diverse galactic environments.

The Multi-Phase ISM & Cloud Assembly

Molecular clouds form through the interaction of converging atomic streams, leaving residual cold atomic envelopes that surround the newly formed clouds. These envelopes carry substantial mass yet remain largely invisible in emission, betraying their presence through self-absorption in [C II], CO, and H I. To disentangle the multi-phase ISM along the line of sight, I developed an N-layer radiative transfer model that solves spectrally resolved for multiple components simultaneously, recovering the temperature, optical depth, and column density of each layer.

Astroinformatics & Method Development

I develop numerical and statistical methods for the analysis of spectral data cubes, integrated into my open-source Python toolkit astrokit. The toolkit bundles a growing collection of methods I have built over the years, including an N-layer radiative transfer model that disentangles the multi-phase ISM along the line of sight, a Gaussian Mixture Model framework that clusters spectra by shape, and a procedure to reconstruct the three-dimensional UV radiation field from a stellar census. Looking ahead, I aim to develop new numerical and statistical techniques tailored to the data volumes of FYST/CCAT and SKA-era surveys.

03 — Publications

Selected Publications

Five papers tracing the molecular-cloud lifecycle — from assembly through stellar feedback to dispersal.

Ionized carbon as a tracer of the assembly of interstellar clouds

Schneider, Bonne, Bontemps, Kabanovic, et al. · Nature Astronomy, 7, 546 (2023)

Direct observational evidence that molecular clouds in Cygnus X assemble through the interaction of converging atomic flows, traced jointly in [C II] and H I. Cloud assembly proceeds on ~1 Myr timescales — an order of magnitude faster than quasi-static formation — supporting a dynamic cloud-formation scenario.

Self-absorption in [C II], ¹²CO, and H I in RCW 120: Building up a geometrical and physical model of the region

Kabanovic, Schneider, Ossenkopf-Okada, et al. · A&A, 659, A36 (2022)

All three lines ([C II], ¹²CO, H I) suffer strong self-absorption around RCW 120, originating from a mostly cold atomic cloud enveloping the molecular cloud — likely a remnant of the cloud's formation from atomic streams. The paper introduces the methodological framework that makes this kind of analysis tractable for entire spectral data cubes: an automated N-layer multi-component radiative transfer fitting procedure, combined with Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM) for the unsupervised clustering of velocity-resolved spectra. Together they form a new toolset for the multi-phase ISM that is broadly applicable beyond the present case.

Stellar feedback and triggered star formation in the prototypical bubble RCW 120

Luisi, Anderson, Schneider, Simon, Kabanovic, et al. · Science Advances, 7, eabe9511 (2021)

First science result from the SOFIA Legacy Program FEEDBACK. The [C II] shell expanding at ~15 km s^-1 is stellar-wind driven and triggers a new generation of star formation on timescales below 0.15 Myr — an order of magnitude faster than previously thought. Demonstrates that stellar wind energy is converted efficiently into the kinetic energy of the expanding bubble.

The SOFIA FEEDBACK [C II] Legacy Survey: Rapid molecular cloud dispersal in RCW 79

Bonne, Kabanovic, Schneider, Zavagno, et al. · A&A, 679, L5 (2023)

Stellar feedback rapidly disperses the natal molecular cloud. The [C II] line reveals high-velocity gas escaping the cloud through low-pressure holes and chimneys, alongside a fragmented expanding shell, leading to a cloud erosion timescale below 5 Myr. Together with the simultaneous compression and triggered star formation, this establishes positive and negative feedback as competing processes operating on overlapping timescales.

[C II]-deficit caused by self-absorption in an ionised carbon-filled bubble in RCW 79

Keilmann, Dannhauer, Kabanovic, Schneider, et al. · A&A, 697, L2 (2025)

Discovery of a Galactic [C II] bubble caught at a very early evolutionary stage, still filled with ionised carbon. By applying the two-layer radiative transfer model, the missing [C II] flux is reconstructed, showing that self-absorption alone can explain the long-standing [C II] deficit observed in the [C II]-vs-FIR relation — with potential implications for extragalactic scales.

My complete list of peer-reviewed publications and ongoing work is maintained on Google Scholar and on the NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS).

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