Prof. F. Bernard Schutz

Research Interests

I am the director of the Astrophysical Relativity Department of the AEI. The work of the department mainly involves studies of neutron stars, black holes, and the gravitational radiation they may emit. One group in the department studies the astrophysics of these objects and develops data analysis techniques to enable the detection of gravitational radiation from them. Another group performs simulations, using supercomputers, of collisions between black holes and/or neutron stars.

My own research is principally in the study of the physics and astrophysics of possible gravitational wave sources, including black holes and neutron stars; and in methods of analyzing data from gravitational wave detectors to discover and study gravitational waves. I am the Principal Investigator responsible for data analysis for the GEO600 collaboration, which is part of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. I am also a member of the LISA International Science Team, which guides the joint ESA-NASA project to place a gravitational wave detector in space. When time permits I also work with others at the AEI to develop numerical methods for the black hole simulations.

I came to the AEI in 1995 from Cardiff University in Wales, and I still retain a part-time appointment as a professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy. Cardiff is also a partner in the GEO600 project, and my work at Cardiff has led to the Triana software project.

I am a member of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina and of the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences, Uppsala. I am a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the Institute of Physics (UK).