About

Maria D. Torres Schwab is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, specializing in developmental behavioral pediatrics. Her medical training began with her MD from the University of the Philippines in 1990, followed by internship and residency in Pediatrics at UMDNJ - New Jersey Medical School from 1991 to 1994, and a Chief Residency in Pediatrics at the same institution from 1994 to 1995. She also earned a Diploma in Tropical Medicine from the Gorgas Memorial Institute of Tropical Medicine in 1995 and a Master of Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology from UMDNJ - School of Public Health in 2000-2003. Her fellowship in Clinical Genetics was completed at UMDNJ - New Jersey Medical School between 2006 and 2008. Her areas of interest include developmental delay, cognitive impairment, fetal alcohol syndrome, genetic disorders, heritable diseases, learning disabilities, and developmental disabilities. Dr. Schwab's clinical expertise involves the evaluation and care of patients with genetic disorders, developmental disabilities, autism, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. She has contributed to research and presentations on topics such as postpartum relapse prevention to cigarette smoking, SHOX gene deletion phenotypes, Puerto Rican infant hypotonia syndrome, and overlaps between Coffin-Siris Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Research topics

• Astrophysics
• Astronomy
• Physics
• Astrobiology
• Geology
• Optics

Selected publications

• JWST Nebular Spectroscopy of SN 2023qov: Circumstellar Dust Emission in a Normal Type Ia Supernova

  HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · 2026-04-10

  preprintOpen access

  We present panchromatic observations of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2023qov, ranging from $\sim$2 weeks before to $\sim$1 year after maximum light. \textit{JWST} near- and mid-infrared spectra at $+$276 and $+$363~days show $\sim$400 K dust emission that cools by $\sim$75 K between epochs, the first unambiguous spectroscopic detection of dust emission in a normal SN Ia. We find that the emission is well described by models of carbonaceous dust placed within $\sim$1 light year of the SN, with a dust mass of $\sim$$10^{-4}$ M$_{\odot}$. We do not see evidence of active dust creation, suggesting an infrared light echo by pre-existing circumstellar dust as the likely source of the emission. The \textit{JWST} nebular line profiles suggest asymmetric, stratified ejecta, similar to other normal SNe Ia, though a slight double-horn structure in the argon lines indicate a toroidal enhancement. SN 2023qov exhibits a slightly red, fast-declining early light curve ($Δm_{15}(B) = 1.47 \pm 0.05$ mag), from which we determine a $^{56}$Ni mass of $M_{56} = 0.21 \pm 0.04$ M$_{\odot}$, and a distance of $d = 36.0 \pm 1.8$ Mpc to the SN and its host, NGC 7029.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Remarkable Late-time Flux Excess in Hubble Space Telescope Observations of the Type Iax Supernova 2012Z

  The Astrophysical Journal · 2026-02-13 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Type Iax supernovae (SNe Iax) are thermonuclear explosions of white dwarfs (WDs), peculiar and underluminous compared to the normal Type Ia supernovae (SNe). Observations of SNe Iax provide insight into the physics of WD explosions and suggest that some may not be terminal events. Late-time photometry (∼1400 days postpeak) of the SN Iax SN 2012Z, the only WD SN with a preexplosion detection of a progenitor system, revealed a flux excess that may be explained by a gravitationally bound remnant driving a radioactively powered wind. We present further late-time Hubble Space Telescope photometry of SN 2012Z, ∼2500 days after the explosion, and find that the SN is still brighter than, but trending toward, the preexplosion flux. Additionally, we observe that the excess F555W flux seen in previous data has grown more pronounced. The color of the excess flux disfavors a light echo or interaction with the circumstellar material. The decline rate of the excess flux is consistent with energy deposition from 55 Fe, but the luminosity is higher than expected from models of the ejecta, further suggesting evidence for a bound remnant. Combining our data with future observations should allow for the detection of emission from the ejecta shock-heating of the companion He star seen in the progenitor system.

  PublisherDOI

• A Faint Progenitor System for the Faint Supernova 2024vjm

  ArXiv.org · 2026-02-09

  articleOpen access

  Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) are well known for their role as standardizable cosmological candles. Their uniformity is credited to their single origin as thermonuclear explosions of White dwarf (WD) stars. Nevertheless, some SNe Ia break this regularity. Prominently, the Iax subclass are less energetic and remarkably diverse, raising questions about their progenitor systems. While no progenitor system of a normal SN Ia has ever been detected, a luminous blue star was identified in pre-explosion images of the site of the bright SN Iax SN 2012Z, suggested to be a helium giant companion star acting as a mass donor to a WD SN progenitor. This is in line with models of weak mass accretion of a WD from a binary companion, producing an explosion that does not fully disrupt the star. However, these models fail to explain the properties of the faintest Type Iax explosions, suggesting either they originate from other WD binary systems, or even from massive progenitor stars. Here, we present the faint SN Iax SN 2024vjm - possibly the faintest supernova observed to date. Using a deep pre-explosion image taken by the recently launched Euclid space mission, we show that its progenitor system must be fainter than the helium giant SN Iax progenitor candidate of SN 2012Z, as well as that of the luminous red companion or remnant of the faint SN 2008ha, and may require a subdwarf helium star as a mass donor. The deep image also provides strong arguments against a massive star origin for this faint supernova. Our observations argue that SN 2024vjm is a WD explosion, but we find that remarkably faint SNe Iax fade more slowly than bright ones, i.e., they evolve in an opposite manner from the famous Phillips relation that makes regular SNe Ia cosmological candles.

  PublisherOA PDF

• A Faint Progenitor System for the Faint Supernova 2024vjm

  Open MIND · 2026-02-09

  preprint

  Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) are well known for their role as standardizable cosmological candles. Their uniformity is credited to their single origin as thermonuclear explosions of White dwarf (WD) stars. Nevertheless, some SNe Ia break this regularity. Prominently, the Iax subclass are less energetic and remarkably diverse, raising questions about their progenitor systems. While no progenitor system of a normal SN Ia has ever been detected, a luminous blue star was identified in pre-explosion images of the site of the bright SN Iax SN 2012Z, suggested to be a helium giant companion star acting as a mass donor to a WD SN progenitor. This is in line with models of weak mass accretion of a WD from a binary companion, producing an explosion that does not fully disrupt the star. However, these models fail to explain the properties of the faintest Type Iax explosions, suggesting either they originate from other WD binary systems, or even from massive progenitor stars. Here, we present the faint SN Iax SN 2024vjm - possibly the faintest supernova observed to date. Using a deep pre-explosion image taken by the recently launched Euclid space mission, we show that its progenitor system must be fainter than the helium giant SN Iax progenitor candidate of SN 2012Z, as well as that of the luminous red companion or remnant of the faint SN 2008ha, and may require a subdwarf helium star as a mass donor. The deep image also provides strong arguments against a massive star origin for this faint supernova. Our observations argue that SN 2024vjm is a WD explosion, but we find that remarkably faint SNe Iax fade more slowly than bright ones, i.e., they evolve in an opposite manner from the famous Phillips relation that makes regular SNe Ia cosmological candles.

  DOI

• The Most Luminous Known Fast Blue Optical Transient AT 2024wpp: Unprecedented Evolution and Properties in the Ultraviolet to the Near-infrared

  The Astrophysical Journal Letters · 2026-01-13 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract We present an extensive photometric and spectroscopic ultraviolet–optical–infrared campaign on the luminous fast blue optical transient (LFBOT) AT 2024wpp over the first ∼100 days. AT 2024wpp is the most luminous LFBOT discovered to date, with L pk ≈ (2–4) × 10 45 erg s −1 (5–10 times that of the prototypical AT 2018cow). This extreme luminosity enabled the acquisition of the most detailed LFBOT UV light curve thus far. In the first ∼45 days, AT 2024wpp radiated >10 51 erg, surpassing AT 2018cow by an order of magnitude and requiring a power source beyond the radioactive 56 Ni decay of traditional supernovae. Like AT 2018cow, the UV–optical spectrum of AT 2024wpp is dominated by a persistently blue thermal continuum throughout our monitoring, with blackbody parameters at a peak of T > 30,000 K and R BB / t ≈ 0.2 c –0.3 c . We find evidence for cooling until ∼10 days; thereafter, T ≳ 20,000 K is maintained. We interpret the featureless spectra as a consequence of continuous energy injection from a central source of high-energy emission that maintains high ejecta ionization. After 35 days, faint (equivalent width (EW) ≲ 10 Å) H and He spectral features with kinematically separate velocity components centered at 0 and −6400 km s −1 emerge, implying spherical symmetry deviations. A near-infrared excess of emission above the optical blackbody emerges between 20 and 30 days, with a power-law spectrum F ν ,NIR ∝ ν −0.3 at 30 days. We interpret this distinct emission component as either reprocessing of early UV emission in a dust echo or free–free emission in an extended medium above the optical photosphere. LFBOT asphericity and multiple outflow components (including mildly relativistic ejecta), together with the large radiated energy, are naturally realized by super-Eddington accretion disks around neutron stars or black holes and their outflows.

  PublisherDOI

• JWST Nebular Spectroscopy of SN 2023qov: Circumstellar Dust Emission in a Normal Type Ia Supernova

  ArXiv.org · 2026-04-10

  articleOpen access

  We present panchromatic observations of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2023qov, ranging from $\sim$2 weeks before to $\sim$1 year after maximum light. \textit{JWST} near- and mid-infrared spectra at $+$276 and $+$363~days show $\sim$400 K dust emission that cools by $\sim$75 K between epochs, the first unambiguous spectroscopic detection of dust emission in a normal SN Ia. We find that the emission is well described by models of carbonaceous dust placed within $\sim$1 light year of the SN, with a dust mass of $\sim$$10^{-4}$ M$_{\odot}$. We do not see evidence of active dust creation, suggesting an infrared light echo by pre-existing circumstellar dust as the likely source of the emission. The \textit{JWST} nebular line profiles suggest asymmetric, stratified ejecta, similar to other normal SNe Ia, though a slight double-horn structure in the argon lines indicate a toroidal enhancement. SN 2023qov exhibits a slightly red, fast-declining early light curve ($Δm_{15}(B) = 1.47 \pm 0.05$ mag), from which we determine a $^{56}$Ni mass of $M_{56} = 0.21 \pm 0.04$ M$_{\odot}$, and a distance of $d = 36.0 \pm 1.8$ Mpc to the SN and its host, NGC 7029.

  PublisherOA PDF

• JWST and Ground-based Observations of the Type Iax Supernovae SN 2024pxl and SN 2024vjm: Evidence for Weak Deflagration Explosions

  GSI Repository (GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung) · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• JWST and Ground-based Observations of the Type Iax Supernovae SN 2024pxl and SN 2024vjm: Evidence for Weak Deflagration Explosions

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2025-05-05

  preprintOpen access

  We present panchromatic optical $+$ near-infrared (NIR) $+$ mid-infrared (MIR) observations of the intermediate-luminosity Type Iax supernova (SN Iax) 2024pxl and the extremely low-luminosity SN Iax 2024vjm. JWST observations provide unprecedented MIR spectroscopy of SN Iax, spanning from $+$11 to $+$42 days past maximum light. We detect forbidden emission lines in the MIR at these early times while the optical and NIR are dominated by permitted lines with an absorption component. Panchromatic spectra at early times can thus simultaneously show nebular and photospheric lines, probing both inner and outer layers of the ejecta. We identify spectral lines not seen before in SN Iax, including [Mg II] 4.76 $μ$m, [Mg II] 9.71 $μ$m, [Ne II] 12.81 $μ$m, and isolated O I 2.76 $μ$m that traces unburned material. Forbidden emission lines of all species are centrally peaked with similar kinematic distributions, indicating that the ejecta are well mixed in both SN 2024pxl and SN 2024vjm, a hallmark of pure deflagration explosion models. Radiative transfer modeling of SN 2024pxl shows good agreement with a weak deflagration of a near-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf, but additional IR flux is needed to match the observations, potentially attributable to a surviving remnant. Similarly, we find SN 2024vjm is also best explained by a weak deflagration model, despite the large difference in luminosity between the two supernovae. Future modeling should push to even weaker explosions and include the contribution of a bound remnant. Our observations demonstrate the diagnostic power of panchromatic spectroscopy for unveiling explosion physics in thermonuclear supernovae.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Early Shock-Cooling Observations and Progenitor Constraints of Type IIb SN 2024uwq

  ArXiv.org · 2025-05-05

  preprintOpen access

  We present early multi-wavelength photometric and spectroscopic observations of the Type IIb supernova SN 2024uwq, capturing its shock-cooling emission phase and double-peaked light curve evolution. Early spectra reveal broad H-alpha (v ~ 15,500 km s$^{-1}$) and He I P-Cygni profiles of similar strengths. Over time the He I lines increase in strength while the H-alpha decreases, consistent with a hydrogen envelope ($M_{env}$ = 0.7 - 1.35 $M_\odot$ ) overlying helium-rich ejecta. Analytic modeling of early shock cooling emission and bolometric light analysis constrains the progenitor to a partially stripped star with radius R = 10 - 60 $R_\odot$, consistent with a blue/yellow supergiant with an initial ZAMS mass of 12 - 20 $M_\odot$ , likely stripped via binary interaction. SN 2024uwq occupies a transitional position between compact and extended Type IIb supernovae, highlighting the role of binary mass-transfer efficiency in shaping a continuum of stripped-envelope progenitors. Our results underscore the importance of both early UV/optical observations to characterize shock breakout signatures critical to map the diversity in evolutionary pathways of massive stars. Upcoming time domain surveys including Rubin Observatory's LSST and UV missions like ULTRASAT and UVEX will revolutionise our ability to systematically capture these early signatures, probing the full diversity of stripped progenitors and their explosive endpoints.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Photometry and Spectroscopy of SN 2024pxl: A Luminosity Link Among Type Iax Supernovae

  ArXiv.org · 2025-05-05

  preprintOpen access

  We present extensive ultraviolet to optical photometric and optical to near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic follow-up observations of the nearby intermediate-luminosity ($M_V = -16.81\pm0.19$~mag) Type Iax supernova (SN) 2024pxl in NGC 6384. SN~2024pxl exhibits a faster light curve than the high-luminosity members of this class, and slower than low-luminosity events. The observationally well-constrained rise time of $\sim$11 days and an estimated synthesized $^{56}$Ni mass of 0.03\, M$_\odot$, based on analytical modeling of the integrated spectral energy distribution light curve, are consistent with models of the weak deflagration of a carbon-oxygen white dwarf. Our optical spectral sequence of SN~2024pxl shows weak \ion{Si}{2} lines and spectral evolution similar to other high-luminosity Type Iax SNe, but also a prominent early-time \ion{C}{2} line, like lower-luminosity Type Iax SNe. The late-time optical spectrum of SN~2024pxl closely matches that of SN~2014dt, and its NIR spectral evolution aligns with that of other well-studied, high-luminosity Type Iax SNe. The spectral-line expansion velocities of SN~2024pxl are at the lower end of the Type Iax SN velocity distribution, and the velocity distribution of iron-group elements compared to intermediate-mass elements suggests that the ejecta are mixed on large scales, as expected in pure deflagration models. SN~2024pxl exhibits characteristics intermediate between those of high-luminosity and low-luminosity Type~Iax SNe, further establishing a link across this diverse class.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• D. A. Howell

  Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network

  20 shared

• E. P. González

  20 shared

• Megan Newsome

  Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network

  20 shared

• C. Pellegrino

  Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network

  19 shared

• C. McCully

  19 shared

• Joseph Farah

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  19 shared

• G. Terreran

  17 shared

• Thomas de Jaeger

  Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies

  17 shared