Colloquium (1/28/2022): Computational Astrophysics

On Friday, Jan. 28 we will welcome Prof. Paul C. Duffell from Purdue University to give a talk in the field combining astrophysics and fluid dynamics. 

Title: Moving Mesh Astrophysics

Abstract:

Novel methods in recent years have been developed for numerically solving the hydrodynamical equations relevant to all kinds of astrophysical flows.  I will first (briefly) present one such computational technique, where the numerical grid follows the fluid flow using a “moving mesh”.  I will then present a wide variety of astrophysical scenarios to which I have applied this method, including planet formation, supermassive black hole binaries, and high-energy transients such as supernovae and gamma ray bursts.

About the speaker: Dr. Paul C. Duffell received his BS in Physics from the University of Washington in Seattle in 2001, then received his PhD in Physics from New York University in 2014.  Between undergraduate and graduate school, he took time off and worked a wide range of jobs, including a record store, a coffee shop, and a pizza place.  After his PhD, he pursued a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UC Berkeley from 2014-2018 and then a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics from 2018-2020. Dr. Duffell’s primary field of research is in computational fluid dynamics, with applications spanning a wide range of topics in astrophysics such as planet formation, supernovae, gamma ray bursts, black hole binaries and neutron star mergers.  When he isn’t busying himself with astrophysics and computational fluid dynamics, he enjoys baking and creating stained glass windows.