- Speaker
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Alex Lupsasca, Ph.D.Assistand Professor, Physics and Mathematics, Vanderbilt University
The 2026 lecture series in physics is “Black Holes.” Through observational breakthroughs and theoretical advances, this series will explore black holes across scale — from stellar remnants to the supermassive giants at the center of galaxies. Topics will include high-resolution imaging, gravitational wave signals, the black hole information paradox and analogs of black holes in fluids on Earth. These lectures will illuminate how black holes offer a window into fundamental physics and provide a lens for understanding the universe’s most extreme environments.
2026 Lecture Series Themes
Biology – Folding the Future: The Structural Biology Revolution
Mathematics and Computer Science – Randomness
Neuroscience and Autism Science – Brain and Body: Communication and Connection
Presidential Lectures are a series of free public colloquia spotlighting groundbreaking research across four themes: neuroscience and autism science, physics, biology, and mathematics and computer science. These curated, high-level scientific talks feature leading scientists and mathematicians and are designed to foster discussion and drive discovery within the New York City research community. We invite those interested in these topics to join us for this weekly lecture series.
Black holes are the most extreme objects in the Universe. They’re regions where gravity is so strong that space and time are warped in dramatic and still mysterious ways. In a 2019 breakthrough, the Event Horizon Telescope captured the first images of a black hole, opening a new window on these once-invisible giants. Despite this spectacular achievement, black hole images taken from the ground remain blurry, revealing only a dark shadow encircled by a glowing, fuzzy donut of light.
In this Presidential Lecture, Alex Lupsasca will introduce the Black Hole Explorer (BHEX), a bold plan to launch a radio telescope into Earth orbit that will take some of the sharpest images in the history of astronomy. By creating high-resolution movies of black holes, BHEX will resolve the ‘photon ring’ traced by light that orbited the black hole and skirted its event horizon — an edge of our visible universe — before escaping to our telescopes. BHEX observations will enable precise tests of Albert Einstein’s theory in the strongest gravitational fields, deliver accurate measurements of the space-time geometry, mass and spin of black holes, and illuminate how these cosmic engines power their relativistic jets (cosmic beams that cast the brightest lights in the observable universe).
About the Speaker
Lupsasca is a theorist specializing in black holes, relativistic astrophysics and classical and quantum gravity. Currently a resident scientist at OpenAI, he is the project scientist for the Black Hole Explorer and has been an assistant professor of physics and mathematics at Vanderbilt since 2022. He is a recipient of the Breakthrough Foundation’s 2024 New Horizons in Physics Prize and was awarded the 2024 Early Career Scientist Prize from the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation for his work on black hole imaging. Last year, Science News Magazine listed him as one of 10 “Scientists to Watch” for outstanding contributions to their fields, and the Society for Science awarded him the Jon C. Graff, Ph.D. Prize for Excellence in Science Communication.