Frederic Rasio
Northwestern University, IL·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Black holes left behind by the most massive stars do not sit quietly. In crowded star clusters they meet other stars, pair up and collide.
- Fields
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Physics
Computer Science
- Topics
star clusters
globular clusters
black holes
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2028
What they work on
- Develop computer models of dense star clusters that follow their evolution from the earliest star formation at cosmic dawn to today, combining high-performance computing and machine learning.
- Model how black holes and other compact remnants sink into cluster cores through friction with lighter stars, and how close encounters there form tight binaries such as black hole pairs.
- Predict the collisions between compact remnants and stars that could produce high-energy bursts and optical transients detectable in astronomical surveys.
- Test whether repeated black hole mergers in early clusters can grow black holes large enough to seed the supermassive black holes behind high-redshift quasars.
More about the research
Those encounters can send out gravitational waves, ripples in space-time picked up by detectors such as LIGO. They can also produce bright high-energy flashes. Globular clusters, dense balls of stars found in every galaxy, hold some of the oldest stars in the Universe. That makes them natural laboratories for studying how these events unfold over cosmic history.
Why it matters
Gravitational-wave observatories such as LIGO and future ground- and space-based detectors need models that predict which sources to expect and how often. These simulations could help astronomers interpret black hole merger signals and identify events that also give off light, which are key targets for multi-messenger astronomy. The work may also help explain where the earliest supermassive black holes came from.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Ann-Marie Madigan
University of Colorado Boulder, CO·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Test whether Andromeda's lopsided, eccentric disk of stars in its nucleus records a gravitational-wave recoil kick, by comparing N-body computer simulations of a past major merger with observations of the nucleus.
Rodolfo Barniol Duran
California State University-Sacramento, CA·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Build "meter-to-parsec" numerical simulations that follow neutron star–neutron star and neutron star–black hole mergers from the pre-merger state to the regions where observed light is produced.
Tamara Bogdanovic
Georgia Institute of Technology, GA·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Model the time-dependent X-ray brightness and spectra expected from massive black hole binaries as they spiral toward merger while emitting gravitational waves.
The school
Northwestern University: 71 labs on PI Pages, $1.3B a year on research, 536 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.