DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

Fred Rasio's research spans a wide range of topics in theoretical astrophysics, including: exoplanets and planet formation; the dynamics of dense stellar systems (globular clusters, galactic nuclei, young star clusters); hydrodynamic stellar interactions (stellar collisions and mergers, binary coalescence, common envelope evolution); and relativistic astrophysics (neutron stars and black holes, gravitational waves, relativistic star clusters, radio pulsars). His most recent work has focused on the dynamics of tightly packed planetary systems, gravitational wave sources for laser-interferometer detectors (LIGO, LISA), and the formation of massive black holes through stellar dynamical processes.

Awards and Honors

• Alfred P. Sloan Fellow (1996-2000)
• Scientific Editor, The Astrophysical Journal (2005 - )
• Fellow, American Physical Society (2006 - )

Selected Publications

• S. Naoz, W. M. Farr, Y. Lithwick, F. A. Rasio, and J. Teyssandier
  Hot Jupiters from secular planet-planet interactions
  Nature, Volume 473, Issue 7346, pp. 187-189 (2011)
• S. Matsumura, S. J. Peale, and F. A. Rasio
  Tidal Evolution of Close-in Planets
  The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 725, Issue 2, pp. 1995-2016 (2010)
• S. Chatterjee, J. M. Fregeau, S. Umbreit, and F. A. Rasio
  Monte Carlo Simulations of Globular Cluster Evolution. V. Binary Stellar Evolution
  The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 719, Issue 1, pp. 915-930 (2010)
• E. Rantsiou, S. Kobayashi, P. Laguna, and F. A. Rasio
  Mergers of Black Hole-Neutron Star Binaries. I. Methods and First Results
  The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 680, Issue 2, pp. 1326-1349. (2008)
• R.M. O'Leary, R. O'Shaughnessy, and F. A. Rasio
  Dynamical interactions and the black-hole merger rate of the Universe
  Physical Review D, vol. 76, Issue 6, id. 061504 (2007)
• M. A. Gurkan, J. M. Fregeau, and F. A. Rasio
  Massive Black Hole Binaries from Collisional Runaways
  Astrophysical Journal Letters 640, L39 (2006)
• E. B. Ford and F. A. Rasio
  On the Relation Between Hot Jupiters and the Roche Limit
  Astrophysical Journal Letters 638, L45 (2006)
• E. B. Ford, V. Lystad, and F. A. Rasio
  Planet-Planet Scattering in the Upsilon Andromedae System
  Nature 434, 873 (2005)
• J. A. Faber, P. Grandclement, and F. A. Rasio
  Mergers of Irrotational Neutron Star Binaries in Conformally Flat Gravity
  Physical Review D69, 124036 (2004)
• N. Ivanova, K. Belczynski, V. Kalogera, F. A. Rasio, and R. E. Taam
  The Role of Helium Stars in the Formation of Double Neutron Stars
  Astrophysical Journal 592, 475 (2003)
• J. A. Faber, P. Grandclement, F. A. Rasio, and K. Taniguchi
  Measuring Neutron-Star Radii with Gravitational-Wave Detectors
  Physical Review Letters 89, 231102 (2002)
• Rasio On-Line Publications