Research
My research gravitates around the rich phenomena associated with black holes. Nature supplies us with black hole laboratories called X-ray binaries peppered throughout every galaxy. These systems consist of a black hole and a star orbiting each other so closely that the black hole tidally strips off the star’s envelope, feeding a gaseous "accretion disk" around the black hole that emits X-ray light.
Click on the movie to play an artist's animation of a black hole X-ray binary drawn to-scale (rendered with the BinSim code).
For the very interested vistor, have a look at my publications.
I am continually energized by learning from and working with so many inspiring people. I especially enjoy working with students and stress that there is always room for talented students to get involved in exciting astrophysics research.