Simons Foundation

News

February 03, 2022

Origin of Supermassive Black Hole Flares Identified: Largest-Ever Simulations Suggest Flickering Powered by Magnetic ‘Reconnection’ By Thomas Sumner

A digital illustration of a supermassive black hole with bright flares coming from either side of it.

July 27, 2021

Magnetic ‘Balding’ of Black Holes Saves General Relativity Prediction By Thomas Sumner

A simulation of the magnetic field lines, represented as lines colored in green, surrounding a black hole, represented as a large black circle to the left of the image, against a red and blue background. As the field lines break and reconnect, pockets of plasma form, as seen in the center of concentric green circles stacked within each other. The largest of these pockets is located on the right side of the image and is the furthest away from the black hole. These plasma pockets launch inward toward the black hole or outward into space, draining energy from the magnetic field.

June 15, 2020

Why Pulsars Shine Bright: A Half-Century-Old Mystery Solved By Thomas Sumner

An artist's illustration of a pulsar showing the two beams of radio waves emanating from the star's poles.

February 20, 2020

CCA’s Bart Ripperda Receives European Physics Society Plasma Physics Division Thesis Award

Portrait photo of Bart Ripperda

January 27, 2020

Event Horizon Telescope Team Awarded Einstein Medal By Thomas Sumner

Picture showing the shadow of a black hole found at the center of galaxy M87.

January 29, 2019

How Black Holes Power Plasma Jets By Thomas Sumner

A screenshot from blackhole simulation

October 29, 2018

Podcast: Black Holes from the Dawn of Light, Orbital Path (PRX)

Artist's rendering of a thick accretion disk that has formed around a supermassive black hole following the tidal disruption of a star that wandered too close

October 10, 2018

Flatiron Institute Hosts National Science Foundation Workshop on the Plasma Physics of Neutron Star Mergers By Thomas Sumner

Astrophysicists Yuri Levin and Eliot Quataert lead a discussion during a meeting on the plasma physics of neutron star mergers