Gravitational and High Energy Astrophysics
PhD Candidate in Physics · West Virginia University · Advisor: Sean T. McWilliams
Using analytical and numerical methods, I study the gravitational and electromagnetic radiation from black holes and the plasma around them.
Photo: Maria O’Leary / Institute for Advanced Study
Photo: James Beattie
Photo: Maria O’Leary / Institute for Advanced Study
About me
I'm a PhD candidate in physics at West Virginia University, working with Sean T. McWilliams on gravitational and high energy astrophysics.
My research uses numerical and analytical methods to study gravitational waves, black holes on hyperbolic orbits, kinetic plasma effects around black holes, and more. This involves using general relativistic particle-in-cell simulations (Entity), numerical relativity simulations (Einstein Toolkit), and analytical black hole perturbation theory!
I expect to complete my PhD in May 2027.
Publications
Using numerical relativity strain data, we show that the direct wave's frequency does not track the remnant's horizon frequency or surface gravity. Using it to test Hawking's area law (as done for GW250114) may lead to false violations.
We explain why the BOB model is so accurate near merger. Using the Pöschl–Teller potential, we show how BOB's amplitude profile can be recovered through the QNM poles. We use rational filters to show BOB also naturally captures the non-QNM "direct wave". We show that the direct wave is largely uncorrelated with the horizon, even at high spin.
An open source and user friendly Python package implementing the Backwards One Body model, with utilities for generating various flavors of BOB and comparing them directly against numerical relativity.
A comprehensive analysis of the fully analytical BOB model of the dominant (2,2) mode for non-precessing systems. We show it reaches accuracy comparable to highly calibrated effective-one-body and NR surrogate models. Furthermore, we compare BOB to a sum of QNMs and show how it outperforms QNMs, on a per-free-parameter basis, near the peak.
We use two semi-analytical methods, one from BOB's frequency evolution and one from a timelike geodesic in the remnant spacetime, to predict when each harmonic mode peaks, up to l = 8. We show our methods can outperform state of the art models for the largest timing differences.
Using numerical relativity simulations of bound and unbound black-hole encounters, we test the boundary-to-bound correspondence beyond the perturbative regime. We find that the relationships break down in full GR.
We tune and benchmark the thermal cycling optimization algorithm, showing it competes closely with parallel tempering using isoenergetic cluster moves while far outperforming simpler heuristics like simulated annealing.
Software
A user-friendly, open-source Python package implementing the Backwards One Body waveform model, with tools for analysis and comparison against numerical relativity.
github.com/AnujKankani/BackwardsOneBody ↗Kokkos-based General Relativistic Particle-in-Cell code for plasma astrophysics.
github.com/entity-toolkit/entity ↗A widely adopted codebase for numerical relativity.
einsteintoolkit.org ↗Python symbolic code-generation toolkit for relativistic astrophysics.
github.com/nrpy/nrpy ↗JAX-based LISA data-analysis tools for massive black holes and galactic binaries. In development.
Awarded to outstanding doctoral students in STEM fields at West Virginia University.
For the proposal "Modeling Black Hole Mergers with a Dynamical Background Spacetime."
Departmental award recognizing outstanding research efforts in physics.
Driving Temperature Anisotropies in the Jets of Black Holes
BOB the (Waveform) Builder + Direct Waves
Modeling Extreme Gravity: From Relativistic Plasmas to Gravitational Waves
BOB the (Waveform) Builder: Optimizing Analytical Merger Waveforms
Merger-Ringdown Modeling of Gravitational Waves Beyond the Dominant Mode
BOB
Most merger models are highly reliant on NR information. BOB is a physically motivated, minimally tuned, and highly accurate model for the merger-ringdown waveform.
Explainers
More videos will be added soon!
A comprehensive analysis of the Backwards One Body model against NR, state of the art waveform models and a sum of QNMs.
arXiv:2510.25012 ↗In this paper we show how BOB is related to a sum of QNMs. We then apply rational filters to show BOB also models the non-QNM direct wave componoent of the radiation.
arXiv:2603.15474 ↗The prompt emission after merger does not track the remnant’s horizon frequency or surface gravity can report violations that never happened. Working with numerical-relativity strain data, we show the direct wave is not a reliable probe of the remnant horizon.
arXiv:2607.02380 ↗Widgets
Interactive widgets to explore spin weighted (s=-2) spherical harmonics and geodesic orbits. More widgets will be added soon!