Saul Teukolsky
Encyclopedia
Saul Teukolsky is a theoretical astrophysicist and a professor of Physics
and Astronomy
at Cornell University
. His major research interests include general relativity, relativistic astrophysics, and computational astrophysics.
, South Africa
in 1970. He went on to be a graduate student under Kip Thorne
at Caltech where he received his Ph.D.
in 1973. He returned to Cornell as an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy in 1974 after serving as the Richard Chace Tolman Research Fellow for one year at Caltech. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1977 and Full Professor in 1983. In 1999 he was named the Hans A. Bethe professor of physics and astrophysics, a position which he still holds. Teukolsky currently serves as the chair of the Cornell physics department. In 2003 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
Teukolsky is one of the pioneers of numerical relativity
: the subject that deals with equations involving general relativity
using supercomputers. He is a coauthor of the Numerical Recipes
series of books on scientific computing. Today his research group works on numerical relativity calculations to predict signals from the LIGO
and LISA
experiments.
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and Astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. His major research interests include general relativity, relativistic astrophysics, and computational astrophysics.
Biography
Teukolsky received a Bachelor of Science in Honors Physics and Honors Applied Mathematics from the University of the WitwatersrandUniversity of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in 1970. He went on to be a graduate student under Kip Thorne
Kip Thorne
Kip Stephen Thorne is an American theoretical physicist, known for his prolific contributions in gravitation physics and astrophysics and for having trained a generation of scientists...
at Caltech where he received his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in 1973. He returned to Cornell as an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy in 1974 after serving as the Richard Chace Tolman Research Fellow for one year at Caltech. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1977 and Full Professor in 1983. In 1999 he was named the Hans A. Bethe professor of physics and astrophysics, a position which he still holds. Teukolsky currently serves as the chair of the Cornell physics department. In 2003 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
Teukolsky is one of the pioneers of numerical relativity
Numerical relativity
Numerical relativity is one of the branches of general relativity that uses numerical methods and algorithms to solve and analyze problems. To this end, supercomputers are often employed to study black holes, gravitational waves, neutron stars and many other phenomena governed by Einstein's Theory...
: the subject that deals with equations involving 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...
using supercomputers. He is a coauthor of the Numerical Recipes
Numerical Recipes
Numerical Recipes is the generic title of a series of books on algorithms and numerical analysis by William H. Press, Saul Teukolsky, William Vetterling and Brian Flannery. In various editions, the books have been in print since 1986...
series of books on scientific computing. Today his research group works on numerical relativity calculations to predict signals from the LIGO
LIGO
LIGO, which stands for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, is a large-scale physics experiment aiming to directly detect gravitational waves. Cofounded in 1992 by Kip Thorne and Ronald Drever of Caltech and Rainer Weiss of MIT, LIGO is a joint project between scientists at MIT,...
and LISA
Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna is a planned space mission to detect and accurately measure gravitational waves from astronomical sources. LISA was originally conceived as a joint effort between the United States space agency NASA and the European Space Agency...
experiments.