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Professional Preparation
Ph.D. - Physics California Institute of Technology - 2005
B. A. - Physics Princeton University - 2000
Certificate - Applied and Computational Mathematics Princeton University - 2000
Research Areas
Binary-Black-Hole Mergers
Black holes are compact objects predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity whose gravity is so intense that they possess event horizons. I am interested in using astrophysical observations to predict where and how often these black holes merge with each other and using tools of general relativity such as post-Newtonian expansions, numerical-relativity simulations, and black-hole perturbation theory to calculate the electromagnetic signatures and gravitational waves produced in such mergers.
Tidal Disruption Events
Stars that wander too close to supermassive black holes will be disrupted when the black hole's gravitational tidal field overwhelms the star's self-gravity. Some of the debris from the tidally disrupted star will be accreted by the black hole, powering a bright electromagnetic flare that can be observed in X-rays, ultraviolet radiation, and optical light. Relativistic effects may strongly affect both the rate and light curves of tidal disruption events. I am interested in calculating these relativistic corrections in time for upcoming optical and X-ray surveys like LSST, Gaia, WFIRST-AFTA, and eROSITA.
Publications
A taxonomy of black-hole binary spin precession and nutation 2021 - Journal Article
Pathways for producing binary black holes with large misaligned spins in the isolated formation channel 2021 - Journal Article
Two regimes of tidal-stream circularization by supermassive black holes 2021 - Journal Article
Stellar tidal disruption events in general relativity 2019 - Journal Article
Wide nutation: binary black-hole spins repeatedly oscillating from full alignment to full anti-alignment 2019 - Journal Article
Spin orientations of merging black holes formed from the evolution of stellar binaries 2018 - Journal Article
Explaining LIGO's observations via isolated binary evolution with natal kicks 2018 - Journal Article
Nutational resonances, transitional precession, and precession-averaged evolution in binary black-hole systems 2017 - Journal Article
Awards
Outstanding Referee Award - American Physical Society [2019]
Sloan Research Fellowship - Sloan Foundation [2015]
Topical Group in Gravitation Eary Career Lecture - American Physical Society [2013]
NASA Graduate Student Fellowship - NASA [2003]
NSF Graduate Fellowship - NSF [2000]
Appointments
Associate Professor University of Texas at Dallas [2019–Present]
Assistant Professor University of Texas at Dallas [2013–2019]
Postdoctoral Fellow New York University [2010–2013]
Postdoctoral Scholar California Institute of Technology [2008–2010]
Postdoctoral Fellow University of Toronto [2005–2008]
New research by an astrophysicist at The University of Texas at Dallas provides revelations about the most energetic event in the universe -- the merging of two spinning, orbiting black holes into a much larger black hole.
Darth Vader might be disappointed to hear it, but the force of gravity does not have a dark side. Dark matter does not pull on other dark matter with any extra gravity or additional force
One of the most powerful events in the universe occurs when two black holes collide. Now, scientists have taken a closer look at this event and have learned a bit more about what happens when two orbiting black holes become one.
UT Dallas researchers are launching a three-year research project that uses specialized computer programs to teach children physics, thanks to a recent grant of more than $1 million from the National Science Foundation’s STEM + Computing (STEM+C) program. The study, Scaffolded Training Environment for Physics Programming (STEPP), will test a novel approach for teaching physics to high school students — computer-based learning programs that require no prior coding experience.
Affiliations
American Astronomical Society
2001/08 High Energy Astrophysics Division
American Physical Society
2012/04 Division of Astrophysics, Division of Gravitation, Texas Section
Phi Beta Kappa
2000/05
Sigma Xi Research Society
2000/05
Canadian Astronomical Society
2005/09–2008/05
Funding
Black-Hole Spin Precession and its Astrophysical Implications
$134,869 - National Science Foundation [2018/05–2019/05]
Black Holes: Bridges Between Astrophysics and Relativity
$50,000 - Alfred P. Sloan Foundation [2015/09–2017/09]
Tidal Disruption Events by Spinning Supermassive Black Holes
$208,227 - NASA [2018/05–2020/05]
Exploratory Integration: Learning Physics in a Synergistic Scaffolded Programming Environment
$1,018,429 - National Science Foundation [2017/09–2020/08]
REU Site: Summer Research Program in Experimental & Theoretical Physics at The University of Texas at Dallas
$287,362 - National Science Foundation [2018/01–2020/12]