Priyamvada Natarajan
Joseph S. and Sophia S. Fruton Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Physics; Chair Astronomy; Chair Women Faculty Forum
STN 217
203-436-4833
Research Areas:
Astrophysics & Cosmology
Research Type:
Experimentalist
Current Projects:
Gravitational Lensing, Clusters of Galaxies as Astrophysical Laboratories, Black Hole Physics, Binary Black Holes, Issues in Galaxy Formation, History & Philosophy of Science
Biographical Sketch:
Priya Natarajan is a theoretical astrophysicist interested in cosmology, gravitational lensing and black hole physics. Specific questions that her work addresses are:
Cosmology
- Substructure in cosmological models
- Evolution and assembly of clusters
- Cosmological constraints from clusters and lens statistics
- Gamma-ray bursts as cosmological probes
- Mapping dark matter
- Probing the nature of dark energy with cluster strong lensing
- Black Hole seed formation at high redshifts
- Mass assembly history of black holes
- Alignments of black hole spins
- Black hole accretion
- Warped accretion disks
- High redshift pre-galactic disks
- Direct formation of black hole seeds
- Feedback processes: energy input from AGN and Supernovae
- Issues in epistemology
- Philosophy of Cosmology
Gravitational lensing by galaxies and clusters
Black holes
Accretion physics
Galaxy formation and feedback
History and Philosophy of Science
Education:
Ph.D., Cambridge University, 1998
Honors & Awards:
- 2022 Liberty Science Center ‘Genius Award’