Nur Rifat, currently a masters student in the Department of Physics at UMass Dartmouth, works on computational models used to simulate so-called template signals from systems like binary black holes. Until now, it was difficult to make predictions of what the gravitational wave signal was like during the merger of two black holes when one of the black holes is much larger than the other one. Rifat’s new model allows scientists to generate precise template signals from such systems at an impressively fast rate.
Graduate student aids in quest to understand black holes
