Dr. Maarten van de Meent
Location Potsdam
Main Focus
The motion of two black holes orbiting each other is the simplest macroscopic dynamical system realized in Nature. Yet, despite its simplistic elegance, no generic closed form solutions are known. At the same time understanding the motion of binary black holes is the Rosetta Stone to interpreting gravitational astronomy.
My research studies approximate solutions to the relativistic two body problem. The primary approach I use is the Gravitational Self-Force formalism, which systematically expands solutions in powers of the mass-ratio, starting from geodesics. Knowledge gained about the solutions is applied to build and improve waveform models used in gravitational wave data analysis, such as the SEOBNR family of models.
Publications
Here are links to my publications: on Spires, on the ADS database, and on the arxiv.
Curriculum Vitae
2025- Associate Professor, Center of Gravity, University of Copenhagen
2022- Adjunct Senior Scientist in the Astrophysical and Cosmological Relativity Division
2022-2025 Assistant Professor, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
2013-2017 Rubicon fellow/Senior Postdoctoral fellow, University of Southampton
2017-2022 Marie Skłodowska Curie fellow/Senior Scientist in the Astrophysical and Cosmological Relativity Division
2011-2013 Postdoc, Utrecht University
2007-2011 PhD Theoretical Physics, Utrecht University (Advisor: G. 't Hooft)
2006-2007 Fulbright Fellowship, MS Mathematics, University of Oregon
2004-2006 MSc Mathematical Physics, University of Amsterdam (Thesis advisor: R.H. Dijkgraaf)
2001-2004 BSc Mathematics/BSc Physics and Astronomy, University of Amsterdam