James Fuller

James Fuller is a Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), within the Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy. His research focuses on fluid dynamics within stars and planets, using analytical and numerical methods to address observational puzzles. He collaborates with the TAPIR research group and actively mentors undergraduate and graduate students in global projects.

Education: B.A., Whitman College (2008); M.S., Cornell University (2011); Ph.D., Unspecified Institution (2014). Before his current role, he was a Visiting Associate at Caltech (2017) and Assistant Professor (2017-2023).

Research interests include the mass transfer in binary systems, pre-supernova outbursts in massive stars, Saturn's interior via ring seismology, and tidal migration of moons/exoplanets. He studies magnetic fields in red giants, neutron star/black hole spin dynamics, and asteroseismology as tools to probe stellar interiors. His work bridges theory with observations, such as using Cassini data for planetary seismology and gravitational wave sources from merging white dwarfs.

Advising and grants: Fuller advises graduate students like Nicholas Rui (asteroseismology), Peter Scherbak (binary white dwarfs), Xiaoshan Huang (radiation hydrodynamics), and Daichi Tsuna (supernova simulations). Former students Samantha Wu and Linhao Ma have moved to postdoctoral fellowships. Collaborations include work with Kevin Burdge and Tom Prince on ZTF discoveries of white dwarf binaries.

Labs/teams: He is part of the TAPIR group at Caltech and collaborates with the Encelade Team for exoplanet migration studies. His research also intersects with projects on differential stellar rotation and magnetic field evolution in stars.