Ronald Kantowski is a theoretical cosmologist, well known in the field of general relativity

General relativity

General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916. It is the current description of gravitation in modern physics...

 as the author, together with Rainer K. Sachs, of the Kantowski/Sachs dust solutions to the Einstein field equation. These are a widely used family of inhomogeneous cosmological models

Physical cosmology

Physical cosmology, as a branch of astronomy, is the study of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the universe and is concerned with fundamental questions about its formation and evolution. For most of human history, it was a branch of metaphysics and religion...

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Kantowski received his Ph.D. in 1966 from the University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...

, where he wrote a dissertation on cosmological models.

His recent research has centered around issues of mass inhomogeneties and topological quantum field theories.