Prize Recipient

Luis Lehner
University of Pittsburgh

Citation:

"

For developing a method that significantly advances the capability for modeling gravitational radiation by making possible the stable numerical solution of Einstein's equation near moving black holes.

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Background:

Dr. Lehner received his "Licenciatura en Fisica" from the National University of Cordoba (Argentina) in 1993, where he continued holding a Research Fellowship. In August 1994 he moved to the University of Pittsburgh where he received his Ph.D. in January 1998 under the direction of Prof. J. Winicour. He stayed at the University of Pittsburgh as a Postdoctoral Fellow until August 1998. He then accepted a Postdoctoral position at the University of Texas at Austin where he is currently working. Dr. Lehner taught several physics courses at the National University of Cordoba and held Teaching Assistant positions at the National University of Cordoba and the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Lehner's main field of research is Numerical Relativity, studying the modeling of binary black hole collisions, critical phenomena and the evolution of matter in black hole spacetimes. He is also interested in non-perturbative Quantum Gravity.

Dr. Lehner was honored by the Council of Graduate Schools with the Distinguished Dissertation Award (1998), by the University of Pittsburgh with the Andrew Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship (1997) and by the National University of Cordoba with the Honor Prize (1993).

Selection Committee:

Jeremiah U. Brackbill (Chair), Anthony D. Kennedy, Edmund Bertschinger (Vice Chair), Philip Marcus, Sharon C. Glotzer