Astrophysical Sciences and Technology Ph.D.

This multidisciplinary program is administered by the School of Physics and Astronomy, in collaboration with the School of Mathematical Sciences and the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, setting it apart from conventional astrophysics graduate programs at traditional research universities.

The program offers tracks in astrophysics (including observational and theoretical astrophysics), computational and gravitational astrophysics (including numerical relativity, gravitational wave astronomy), and astronomical technology (including detector and instrumentation research and development).

Students may participate in one of three research centers associated with the School of Physics and Astronomy: the Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation, the Center for Detectors or the Laboratory for Multi-wavelength Astrophysics.

Graduates of the program have secured roles at the Dudley Observatory at the Museum of Innovation & Science, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, in higher education institutions, among others

The program offers tracks in astrophysics (including observational and theoretical astrophysics), computational and gravitational astrophysics (including numerical relativity, gravitational wave astronomy), and astronomical technology (including detector and instrumentation research and development). Students can pursue research interests in a wide range of topics, including design and development of novel detectors, multiwavelength studies of proto-stars, active galactic nuclei and galaxy clusters, gravitational wave data analysis, and theoretical and computational modeling of astrophysical systems including galaxies and compact objects such as binary black holes. Depending on research interests, students may participate in one of three research centers: the Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation (Video), the Center for Detectors, or the Laboratory for Multi-wavelength Astrophysics.

Current research interests include:

• Strong-field gravitational dynamics of interacting compact objects such as black holes and neutron stars
• Magnetohydrodynamical simulations of the accretion disks and other astrophysical environments around supermassive black-holes
• Detection of gravitational wave signatures of binary black holes and/or neutron stars in close binary orbits
• Single Photon Counting Detectors for NASA Astronomy Missions
• New Infrared Detectors for Astrophysics
• Microgrid polarizer arrays
• Young stars and proto-planetary disks
• Chandra Planetary Nebula Survey
• Feeding and Feedback in Active Galactic Nebulae (AGN)
• AGN feedback in galaxy clusters
• Supermassive black holes in low redshift elliptical galaxies
• Reverberation mapping the circum-nuclear torus in AGN
• Stellar dynamics and supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei
• Hydrodynamical signatures of dark-matter dominated satellite galaxies