Astrophysics

Nadine Soliman, NASA Hubble Fellow in the School of Natural Sciences, studies star and planet formation. At IAS, she’ll examine and simulate processes such as the collapse of molecular clouds, the birth of stellar clusters, and the formation of protoplanetary disks—all as case studies for larger questions about the interplay between microphysical processes and large-scale astrophysical structures.

Chris Hamilton, John N. Bahcall Fellow in the School of Natural Sciences (2021–26), describes how the Institute’s intense academic environment has helped him focus and accelerate his research, and the benefits of receiving rapid feedback from colleagues like Professor Emeritus Scott Tremaine.

Giovanni Maria Tomaselli, Member in the Institute for Advanced Study's School of Natural Sciences (2024–27), introduces the enigmatic substance of dark matter, which forms the focus of his current research and of lively discussions during Astro Coffee meetings.

Giovanni Maria Tomaselli, Member in the School of Natural Sciences, delves into the cosmic mystery of dark matter—the invisible substance that comprises 85 percent of the universe. He introduces three of the main candidates for dark matter's composition and discusses his own innovative insights into how such matter might interact with binary black hole pairs.

Why do collisionless plasmas like the solar wind, a constant stream of charged particles that flows away from the Sun, exhibit a universal "non-thermal tail"? Uddipan Banik, Member in the School of Natural Sciences, has proposed a fundamental, first-principles explanation for this phenomenon.

Building on analogs with plasma physics, John N. Bahcall Fellow Chris Hamilton (2021–26), visiting graduate student Shaunak Modak (2023–26), and Professor Emeritus Scott Tremaine have developed a new theoretical framework for understanding galactic disks. 

Sihao Cheng, Martin A. and Helen Chooljian Member in the Institute for Advanced Study’s School of Natural Sciences (2022–25), describes how he is mining a previously overlooked dataset in his ongoing search for a possible ninth planet in our solar system.

Digvijay Wadekar, Member in the School of Natural Sciences (2021–24), reflects on the evolving nature of problem-solving in modern physics and how the Institute for Advanced Study supports both interdisciplinary collaboration and individual inquiry.

Lia Medeiros, Visitor in the Institute for Advanced Study's School of Natural Sciences (2023–24), describes how she created a machine learning algorithm to produce new images of the black hole at the center of our galaxy, and how such images can be used to test Albert Einstein's theory of gravity.

The work of plasma fusion physicists may seem completely divorced from the realm of theoretical astrophysics, but, as Chris Hamilton, John N. Bahcall Fellow in the School of Natural Sciences, explains, the mathematical methods developed to exploit the power of the electrons, ions, and magnetic fields in fusion plasmas are precisely the same as those needed to describe the dynamics of stars, spiral arms, and dark matter in galaxies like the Milky Way.