Dr. Broderick works to explain the fundamental physics of black holes and their observable characteristics. Black holes are sites where strong gravity dominates everything, from the dynamics of orbiting material to the shape of spacetime itself. As a result, they are the engines that power some of the brightest objects in the universe. Broderick works on scales spanning from the horizon to the cosmos, tied together by the unique physical conditions near black hole horizons.
As a member of the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, Broderick participates in the creation and interpretation of the first horizon-resolving images of astronomical black holes in the history of astronomy. Using large-scale computer simulations his group explores model images, looking for signatures of deviations from general relativity and the high-energy astrophysical processes responsible for the growth of black holes and the launching of outflows that extends their influence to intergalactic distances.
In addition, Broderick's group studies the cosmological impact of the gamma-ray emission of black holes. At energies a million times higher than a dentist's X ray, these gamma rays seed the voids between galaxy clusters with a population of ultrarelativistic electron-positron pairs. The subsequent evolution of the pairs is dictated by plasma physics in the extremely relativistic regime and the structure of a putative intergalactic magnetic field that fills the universe, shedding light on both. Broderick's group studies the ultimate fate of these pairs with cutting-edge numerical plasma simulations as well as the implications for cosmological magnetic fields.
Contact information
Office: PHY 258
Phone: 519 888-4567 ext. 31190
Email: abroderick@uwaterloo.ca
