Caltech Relativistic Astrophysics Summer School 2025

APPLY HERE

High-energy astrophysics has made remarkable progress in describing some of the most extreme phenomena in the universe. Recent discoveries such as compact binary mergers and multi-messenger gravitational wave events, fast radio bursts, ultra-high energy cosmic rays, and advances in our understanding of the transient high energy sky (radio, X-ray, gamma-ray) open up new possibilities for forefront research in these rapidly evolving fields.

This summer school aims to provide beginning and advanced graduate students in astrophysics, physics, and adjacent fields with the knowledge and tools to fully take advantage of these exciting developments.

A particular focus of the school will be the application of emerging computational tools to provide high-fidelity models of high-energy astrophysical phenomena in strong gravity environments, e.g., around black holes or neutron stars.

The one-week long summer school will include lectures on a broad range of topics:

• Black hole astrophysics
• Dynamo and turbulence
• Magnetohydrodynamics
• Multi-messenger gravitational wave events
• Neutrino astrophysics
• Neutron star magnetospheres
• Numerical Relativity
• Plasma kinetics

We will also provide extra-sessions for tutorials, outreach training, as well as social activities. Participants will further have the opportunity to present a poster on their research.

Lecturers include (preliminary)

• Koushik Chatterjee
• Jens Mahlmann
• Elias Most
• Masha Okounkova
• Sherwood Richers
• Bart Ripperda
• Muni Zhou

Applicants are required to submit their curriculum vitae (CV), which should include all relevant coursework taken and expected to be taken before Summer 2025. Additionally, we ask for a motivation statement and require one (or two) reference letters to be submitted under the registration link by the letter writers.
We have limited funds to offer partial financial support for attendees.

Further information will be announced on a rolling basis.

This school is supported by the National Science Foundation.

Organizing committee

• Samuel Dunham
• Aretaios Lalakos
• Elias Most
• Mike Pajkos
• Sasha Philippov
• Nils Vu
• Yici Zhong

​