UT-ORNL Theoretical Astrophysics
Our group's primary scientific focus is on explosive stellar events and the associated nuclear astrophysics. We construct theoretical models for supernovae, nova, x-ray and gamma-ray bursts. All of these events create new atomic nuclei and contribute them to the galaxy, forming the basis for new stars and planets. By studying these events and their nuclear products, which form much of ourselves and our world, we study an important link in the chain of history that connects us to the beginning of the Universe.
The UT/ORNL Theoretical Astrophysics group has grown out of the longstanding program of nuclear physics at ORNL. Our group is primarily supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Physics with additional support from the DoE Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research, NASA's Astrophysics Theory and Fundamental Physics (ATFP) Program, NSF's Stellar Astronomy & Astrophysics, Nuclear Theory and Accelerating Discovery in Science and Engineering Through Petascale Simulations and Analysis (PetaApps) Programs.
