Richard Matzner

Richard Matzner
Alma materUniversity of Notre Dame
University of Maryland
Known forBinary Black Hole Grand Challenge Alliance
Scientific career
FieldsGeneral relativity
Numerical relativity
Cosmology
Astrophysics
InstitutionsUniversity of Texas at Austin
Doctoral advisorCharles Misner
Other academic advisorsJohn Wheeler
Doctoral studentsBenjamin Schumacher
Ignazio Ciufolini
Tony Rothman
Premana Premadi

Richard Alfred Matzner is an American physicist, working mostly in the field of general relativity and cosmology, including numerical relativity, kinetic theory, black hole physics, and gravitational radiation.[1] He is Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at Austin where he directed the Center for Relativity.[2] In 1993 he organized and was Lead Principal Investigator of an NSF/ARPA funded computational Grand Challenge program involving ten university teams seeking computational descriptions for the interaction of black holes as potential sources for observable gravitational radiation.[3][4] His work leading what became known as the Binary Black Hole Grand Challenge Alliance[5][6][7] featured in Kip Thorne's Nobel Prize lecture, including when Matzner and Alliance collaborators wagered Thorne that numerical relativity would produce a simulated waveform comparable to observation prior to the first LIGO detection. Matzner and colleagues eventually won, Thorne saying he "conceded the bet with great happiness."[8]

  1. ^ "Richard Matzner in INSPIRE High Energy Physics Database". CERN, DESY, Fermilab, IHEP, IN2P3, and SLAC. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  2. ^ "Richard Matzner at the University of Texas at Austin Department of Physics". Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  3. ^ Thorne, Kip (2018-12-18). "Nobel Lecture: LIGO and gravitational waves III". Rev. Mod. Phys. 90 (40503): 040503. Bibcode:2018RvMP...90d0503T. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.90.040503. S2CID 125431568.
  4. ^ Matzner, Richard; Seidel, H (1995-11-10). "Geometry of a Black Hole Collision". Science. 270 (5238): 941–947. Bibcode:1995Sci...270..941M. doi:10.1126/science.270.5238.941. S2CID 121172545. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  5. ^ Choptuik, M. (1997). D. A. Clarke and M. J. West (ed.). The Binary Black Hole Grand Challenge Project. 12th Kingston Meeting on Theoretical Astrophysics; proceedings of meeting held in Halifax; Nova Scotia; Canada October 17-19, 1996. Computational Astrophysics. Vol. 123, no. ASP Conference Series. pp. 305–313. Bibcode:1997ASPC..123..305C. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  6. ^ "Binary Black Hole Grand Challenge Alliance page at Center for Research on Parallel Computing at Rice University". Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  7. ^ Jani, Karan (3 October 2017). "Exclusive: Interview With Kip Thorne, One of the Winners of 2017 Physics Nobel". The Wire. The Wire. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  8. ^ Thorne, Kip S. (2017-12-08). Kip S. Thorne – Nobel Lecture (Speech). Nobel Prize Ceremony. Stockholm University: Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-19.