Eric G. Blackman's Home Page

Eric G. Blackman

Professor of Physics and Astronomy

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9405-8435

Contact Information

Eric G. Blackman

eric.blackman@rochester.edu

Department of Physics and Astronomy

University of Rochester

Rochester, NY, 14627-0171, USA

Office Phone: (1)585-275-0537

Office: Bausch and Lomb Building, Room 417

Curriculum Vitae and Publications

Postdoctoral Fellowships: Caltech (1998-1999); Cambridge (1995-1998)

PhD.(Theoretical Astrophysics) Harvard (1995)

M.A.S. (Part III Applied Mathematics & Theoretical Physics Tripos): Cambridge (1991)

S.B. (Physics); S.B. (Mathematics) MIT (1990)

Research Style and Interests

My research spans a range of problems in theoretical astrophysics and has recently included excursions into planetary physics and geophysics. I have also worked on the physics of brain injury and helmet protection. The work that I do by myself is primarily analytical or semi-analytical theory, but I collaborate with computational simulators, observers, and experimentalists in additon to other analytic theorists. I prefer working on projects that identify "first order" principles rather than "higher order" details. This can mean working in a subfield for which the basic questions are still being formulated and may not yet have reached popularity. Alternatively, this can mean examining long standing puzzles and assumptions in a new way.

I am a "player-coach" of theoretical astrophysics and physics. That is, I maintain a steady subset of projects for which I myself do the primary calculations, interpretation, and writing. I also have projects for which I supervise and advise others, contributing at different levels depending on the project and the collbaoration team. I often think about the analogy with sports, and particularly the distinction between coaching and playing. For me, coaching alone does not provide sufficient exercise.

Astrophysical fluid dynamics and plasma astrophysics underlie much of my research. These pertain to a variety of different contexts including the interplanetary medium, the sun, stars, galaxies, active galactic nuclei (AGN), and planetary nebulae to name a handful I also have my eyes open for interesting interdisciplinary projects that benefit from physics thinking. This has included work on the physics of mitigating traumatic brain injury.