about.md papers.md projects.md
Photo of Tomáš Plšek 
# Tomáš Plšek

🎓 I am an astrophysics PhD student at the Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics (DTPA), Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, working in the **High Energy Astrophysics ([HEA](https://hea.physics.muni.cz/))** group led by Prof. Norbert Werner. My research focuses on AGN feedback in giant elliptical galaxies, with a specialisation in the study of **X-ray cavities** in their hot atmospheres. I work extensively on image and spectral analysis of X-ray observations and on applying machine learning methods to astronomical data.

💻 Beyond astronomy & astrophysics, I genuinely enjoy coding, and in my free time, I like to play with home automation projects 🏠🔌. When I step away from the screen, I play football ⚽, ride my bike 🚴, and spend time gardening 🌱.

## Education
- since 09/2021 — PhD candidate, "Understanding the physics of hot galactic atmospheres" (supervisor: Norbert Werner), DTPA, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University
- 09/2019–06/2021 — MSc, "Relation between Bondi accretion and jets powers in giant elliptical galaxies" (supervisor: Norbert Werner), DTPA, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University
- 09/2016–06/2019 — BSc, "Dark matter modelling of clusters of galaxies" (supervisor: Filip Hroch), DTPA, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University

## Work experience
- since 03/2021 — Researcher, DTPA, Masaryk University: "Development of novel ML methods in astrophysics; data analysis"
- 10/2019–12/2020 — Researcher, DPE, Masaryk University: "Plasma treatment of materials; optical emission spectroscopy; surface energy; data analysis"
- 05/2018–09/2018 — Demonstrator, Vyškov Observatory: "Public astronomical demonstrations"

[Download full CV (PDF)](cv.pdf)


# Publications

## Major Contributions
- Jan 2024 — "The infalling elliptical galaxy M89: the chemical composition of the AGN disturbed hot atmosphere" — Kara S., Plšek T., Protušová K., Breuer J.-P., Werner N., Mernier F., Ercan E. N.; MNRAS 528, 1500–1516
- Nov 2023 — "CADET: pipeline for detection of X-ray cavities in hot galactic and cluster atmospheres" — Plšek T., Werner N., Topinka M., Simionescu A.; MNRAS 527, 3315–3346
- Sep 2022 — "The relation between accretion rate and jet power in early-type galaxies with thermally unstable hot atmospheres" — Plšek T., Werner N., Grossová R., Topinka M., Simionescu A., Allen S. W.; MNRAS 517, 3682–3710

## Contributions
- Oct 2025 — "Compact stellar systems hosting an intermediate-mass black hole: Magnetohydrodynamic study of inflow–outflow dynamics" — Labaj M., Ressler S. M., Zajaček M., Plšek T., Ripperda B., Peißker F.; A&A 702, A233
- Sep 2025 — "The thermodynamic structure and large-scale structure filament in MACS J0717.5+3745" — Breuer J.-P., Werner N., Plšek T., Mernier F., Umetsu K., Simionescu A., Devlin M., Di Mascolo L., Dibblee-Barkman T., Dicker S., Mason B. S., Mroczkowski T., Romero C., Sarazin C. L., Sievers J.; accepted to A&A
- Jul 2025 — "X-ray investigation of the remarkable galaxy group Nest200047" — Majumder A., Simionescu A., Plšek T., Brienza M., Churazov E., Khabibullin I., Gastaldello F., Botteon A., Röttgering H., Brüggen M., Lyskova N., Rajpurohit K., Sunyaev R. A., Wise M. W.; A&A 699, A375
- Feb 2025 — "MeerKAT discovery of gigahertz radio emission extending from Abell 3017 towards Abell 3016" — Hu D., Werner N., Xu H., Zheng Q., Breuer J.-P., Wu L., Duchesne S. W., van Weeren R. J., Sun M., Zhang C., Johnston-Hollitt M., Shan H., Guo Q., Zhu Z., Wang J., Gu J., Zhao Y., Siew H., Mao J., Zhang Z., Plšek T.; A&A 694, A320
- Feb 2025 — "The bulk motion of gas in the core of the Centaurus galaxy cluster" — XRISM Collaboration [including Plšek T.]; Nature 638, 365–369
- Nov 2024 — "ICECUBE AGN neutrino candidate PKS 1717+177: dark deflector bends nuclear jet" — Britzen S., Kovačević A. B., Zajaček M., Popović L. Č., Pashchenko I. N., Kun E., Pánis R., Jaron F., Plšek T., Tursunov A., Stuchlík Z.; MNRAS 535, 2742–2762
- Oct 2023 — "Ram-pressure stripped radio tail and two ULXs in the spiral galaxy HCG 97b" — Hu D., Zajaček M., Werner N., Grossová R., Jáchym P., Roberts I. D., Ignesti A., Kenney J. D. P., Plšek T., Breuer J.-P., Shimwell T., Tasse C., Zhu Z., Wu L.; MNRAS 527, 1062–1080
- Feb 2022 — "Very Large Array Radio Study of a Sample of Nearby X-Ray and Optically Bright Early-type Galaxies" — Grossová R., Werner N., Massaro F., Lakhchaura K., Plšek T., Gabányi K., Rajpurohit K., Canning R. E. A., Nulsen P., O’Sullivan E., Allen S. W., Fabian A.; ApJS 258, 30

## Submitted publications
- Nov 2025 — "IceCube candidate neutrino emitter PKS 1413+135 is gravitationally lensed on pc-scales" — Britzen S., Zajaček M., Fendt C., Best H., Jaron F., Pashchenko I. N., Plšek T., Seidel G.; submitted to MNRAS
- Mar 2025 — "Gravitationally lensed supermassive binary black hole in IceCube AGN Neutrino candidate PKS 2233-148" — Britzen S., Kovačević A. B., Popović L. Č., Kun E., Zajaček M., Jaron F., Plšek T., Pashchenko I. N., Pánis R., Stuchlík Z.; submitted to A&A

List of all publications (ADS)
[List of publications (PDF)](list_of_publications.pdf)

# Projects

## [Cavity Detection Tool (CADET)](https://github.com/tomasplsek/CADET)
[![CADET architecture](architecture.png)](https://github.com/tomasplsek/CADET)

CADET is a Python pipeline using machine learning to detect and size X-ray cavities in massive early-type galaxies and clusters observed with Chandra. It is released as the Python package [pycadet](https://pypi.org/project/pycadet/); the training and real-data application are described in [Plšek et al. 2024](https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/527/2/3315/7339785). The pipeline provides an end‑to‑end workflow (data preparation, training/validation, and inference) and produces reproducible cavity catalogs with clear provenance.

## [Interactive beta modeling](https://github.com/tomasplsek/Beta-modelling)
[![Interactive beta modeling](beta.png)](https://github.com/tomasplsek/Beta-modelling)

A Jupyter-based tool for fitting 2D surface-brightness distributions of galaxies with single or composite [beta models](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1976A%26A....49..137C/abstract) and inspecting residuals. It lets you interactively adjust model parameters, visualize residual structure in real time, and export best‑fit values. Combines [Sherpa](https://cxc.cfa.harvard.edu/sherpa/) for modeling with [ipywidgets](https://github.com/jupyter-widgets/ipywidgets) for interactivity.