B.A. Pennsylvania (1980)
Ph.D. SUNY Stony Brook (1985)
I am interested in the physics of supernova explosions, stellar evolution, and nucleosynthesis. I am also interested in using supernovae as galactic and cosmological probes. My main field of technical expertise is in numerical astrophysics, developing parallel algorithms and high performance scientific computing.
My research focuses on carrying out detailed theoretical models of the transport of radiation in the fast-moving supernova atmosphere. The tools of this research are detailed numerical calculations of both hydrodynamic and radiation transport. Primarily I am interested in understanding the detailed systematics of how a supernova works, what types of stars lead to what types of supernovae? What is the source of the variation in the energies of the explosion? What are the characteristics of the object that is left behind? Supernovae are fascinating systems to study, since all fields of physics are important to their understanding, and one is forever learning new things.
Recently I have begun work with my colleagues to calculate radiative transport in 3 spatial dimensions, a daunting computational task, that is proceeding apace. This work will allow us to analyze 3-D models of many objects: supernovae, the sun, variable stars, and even global climate models of extra-solar planets and the earth. The common thread is that almost all observed astrophysics depends on understanding the objects that are producing the observed spectrum and that can only be done by detailed modeling or quantitative spectroscopy.
