Bart Ripperda

Bart Ripperda is an Assistant Professor at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) at the University of Toronto, with additional affiliation at the Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute in New York. His research focuses on theoretical and computational astrophysics and fundamental plasma physics with applications in black holes and neutron stars.

Dr. Ripperda is a developer of both the general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics code BHAC (Black Hole Accretion Code) and its Newtonian basis MPI-AMRVAC. He is also a key member of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, which unveiled the first direct visual evidence of a supermassive black hole and its shadow on April 10th, 2019. The EHT collaboration has received prestigious recognition including the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics and the Einstein Medal for this groundbreaking achievement.

His primary research interests include:

• High-energy astrophysical phenomena
• Computational methods in astrophysics
• Black hole accretion physics
• Neutron star magnetospheres
• Plasma physics in extreme gravitational fields
• Numerical relativity

Dr. Ripperda's current research focuses on enhancing simulation capabilities by incorporating advanced physics into models, including radiation transport, quantum electrodynamics effects, and kinetic physics. His work involves studying plasmoid formation in current sheets, conducting 3D simulations of magnetic reconnection phenomena, and investigating kink-instabilities in flux tubes that model black hole jets.

His notable achievements include:

• EPS PHD prize in plasma physics during doctoral studies
• Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics as part of EHT collaboration
• Einstein Medal as part of EHT collaboration

Dr. Ripperda completed his PhD at KU Leuven with Professor Rony Keppens, where he developed computational methods including a general relativistic resistive magnetohydrodynamics algorithm and a general relativistic particle method.