Jonah Miller

Background

About Jonah Miller

I graduated summa cum laude from the University of Colorado at Boulder, with a bachelors degree in math and physics. I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. in numerical relativity at the Guelph-Waterloo Physics Institute. I am also associated with the Perimeter Institute.r. In addition to general knowledge about both fields I study, I have specialized knowledge and interest in differential geometry, general and special relativity, lasers, and high-performance computing. I’ve done research on ultrafast optics, Cartan’s Method of Moving Frames, and quantum gravity. I’m a Linux hobbyist, I like science fiction, and I write fiction for fun. On the side, I write a physics outreach blog, I find writing about science to be very gratifying and I hope my writing helps people improve their understanding of these difficult topics. Numerical simulations have contributed enormously to our understanding of gravitational physics and astrophysics. Numerical models of black-hole accretion disks, both fully relativistic and approximations can be directly compared to observation. With the help of gravitational wave detectors like advanced LIGO, we will soon compare first-principles numericalsimulations of black-hole binary mergers, neutron stars, and more to Nature's own simulation. Although other methods are used as well, Monte Carlo simulations are routinely used to extract information about the universe from the cosmic microwave background. Numerical simulations have also become an essential tool in the pursuit of quantum gravity. Loop quantum gravity simulations probe the quantum corrections to classical singularities, possibly indicating that the universe began not with a Big Bang, but with a Big Bounce. Numerical simulations allow for the study of the radically different and combinatorial complex causal set model of spacetime.