Wolfgang Tichy
Florida Atlantic University, FL·Astronomy & Astrophysics
When two black holes or two neutron stars spiral together and merge, they shake space itself and send out gravitational waves that detectors like LIGO can now record. These signals let scientists test gravity at its strongest and probe matter far denser than an atomic nucleus.
- Fields
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Physics
Computer Science
- Topics
numerical relativity
gravitational waves
binary neutron stars
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Simulate binary neutron star mergers containing dark matter across a range of dark matter fractions, particle masses, mass ratios and spins with the BAM code, to set limits on dark matter in neutron stars.
- Implement massive scalar-tensor gravity, an alternative to general relativity, in initial-data and evolution codes, and simulate neutron star mergers to test for deviations from Einstein's theory.
- Derive a new first-order evolution system that tracks black holes as punctures with finite differences, and implement it in the Nmesh code alongside discontinuous Galerkin methods for very unequal-mass black hole pairs.
- Improve neutron star simulation accuracy by combining discontinuous Galerkin and finite volume methods that keep data exchange low for efficient parallel computing.
More about the research
But reading the signals requires full computer solutions of Einstein's equations of general relativity, an approach called numerical relativity. This project runs such simulations for scenarios that have received little attention, and improves the codes that perform them.
Why it matters
Simulated waveforms from this work could help astronomers interpret gravitational wave and multimessenger observations of merging neutron stars and black holes. Comparing them with data could limit how much dark matter neutron stars contain and test whether Einstein's general relativity holds in extreme gravity. Faster, more accurate codes would support future studies of these events.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Antonios Tsokaros
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Develop an open-source general relativistic initial data code, based on the COCAL (Compact Object CALculator) code, that lets users set up starting conditions for magnetized neutron stars and black holes, alone or in binaries.
Lee Lindblom
University of California-San Diego, CA·Physics
Develop a way to determine the neutron-star equation of state, the pressure–density relationship of matter inside neutron stars, from observations and strong-gravity theory, without assuming any particular microphysics of that matter.
Hang Yu
Montana State University, MT·Astronomy & Astrophysics·Early-career
Model nonlinear tides in binary neutron stars by expanding the stars' fluid motion into eigenmodes (natural vibration patterns), including couplings between modes, and coupling them to gravitational-wave-driven orbital decay.
The school
Florida Atlantic University: 7 labs on PI Pages, $88M a year on research, 124 research doctorates a year.
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