Clemson Computational Astrophysics Lab

C. M. F. Mingarelli, L. Blecha, T. Bogdanović, M. Charisi, S. Chen, A. Escala, B. Goncharov, M. J. Graham, S. Komossa, S. T. McWilliams, D. A. Schwartz, et al.

ApJ 2025

Relativistic Binary Precession: Impact on Eccentric Massive Binary Black Hole Accretion and Hydrodynamics

S. DeLaurentiis, Z. Haiman, J. R. Westernacher-Schneider, L. M. Krauth, J. Davelaar, J. Zrake, A. MacFadyen

ApJ 2024

The Santa Barbara Binary\ensuremath-disk Code Comparison

P. Duffell, A. J. Dittmann, D. J. D'Orazio, A. Franchini, K. M. Kratter, A. B. T. Penzlin, E. Ragusa, M. Siwek, C. Tiede, H. Wang, J. Zrake, et al.

A&A 2024

Long-term evolution of binary orbits induced by circumbinary disks

R. Valli, C. Tiede, A. Vigna-Gómez, J. Cuadra, M. Siwek, J. Ma, D. J. D'Orazio, J. Zrake, S. E. de Mink

Phys Rev D 2024

Self-lensing flares from black hole binaries: General-relativistic ray tracing of circumbinary accretion simulations

L. M. Krauth, J. Davelaar, Z. Haiman, J. R. Westernacher-Schneider, J. Zrake, A. MacFadyen

ApJ 2024

Constraining the PG 1553+113 Binary Hypothesis: Interpreting Hints of a New, 22 yr Period

S. Adhikari, P. Peñil, J. R. Westernacher-Schneider, A. Domı́nguez, M. Ajello, S. Buson, A. Rico, J. Zrake

Astronomical Journal 2024

Spectroastrometric Survey of Protoplanetary Disks with Inner Dust Cavities

S. K. Jensen, S. D. Brittain, A. Banzatti, J. R. Najita, J. S. Carr, J. Kern, J. Kozdon, J. Zrake, J. Fung

MNRAS 2024

Multiwavelength analysis of Fermi-LAT blazars with high-significance periodicity: detection of a long-term rising emission in PG 1553+113

P. Peñil, J. R. Westernacher-Schneider, M. Ajello, A. Domı́nguez, S. Buson, J. Otero-Santos, L. Marcotulli, N. Torres-Albà, J. Zrake

ApJ 2024

Eccentric Minidisks in Accreting Binaries

J. R. Westernacher-Schneider, J. Zrake, A. MacFadyen, Z. Haiman

ApJ 2024

Low-energy Explosions in a Gravitational Field: Implications for Sub-energetic Supernovae and Fast X-Ray Transients

D. A. Paradiso, E. R. Coughlin, J. Zrake, D. R. Pasham

American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #243 2024

Low-energy Explosions in a Gravitational Field: Implications for Sub-energetic Supernovae and Fast X-ray Transients

D. Paradiso, E. Coughlin, J. Zrake, D. R. R. Pasham

MNRAS 2023

Disappearing thermal X-ray emission as a tell-tale signature of merging massive black hole binaries

L. M. Krauth, J. Davelaar, Z. Haiman, J. R. Westernacher-Schneider, J. Zrake, A. MacFadyen

AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division 2023

R-process Rain from Binary Neutron Star Mergers in the Galactic Halo

B. Amend, J. Zrake, D. Hartmann

arXiv 2023

Massive Black Hole Binaries as LISA Precursors in the Roman High Latitude Time Domain Survey

Z. Haiman, C. Xin, T. Bogdanović, P. Amaro Seoane, M. Bonetti, J. A. Casey-Clyde, M. Charisi, M. Colpi, J. Davelaar, A. De Rosa, D. J. D'Orazio, et al.

Phys Rev D 2022

Multiband light curves from eccentric accreting supermassive black hole binaries

J. R. Westernacher-Schneider, J. Zrake, A. MacFadyen, Z. Haiman

ApJ 2022

R-process Rain from Binary Neutron Star Mergers in the Galactic Halo

B. Amend, J. Zrake, D. H. Hartmann

ApJ 2022

How Binaries Accrete: Hydrodynamic Simulations with Passive Tracer Particles

C. Tiede, J. Zrake, A. MacFadyen, Z. Haiman

ApJL 2022

Ellipsars: Ring-like Explosions from Flattened Stars

M. DuPont, A. MacFadyen, J. Zrake

ApJL 2022

Evidence for X-Ray Emission in Excess to the Jet-afterglow Decay 3.5 yr after the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW 170817: A New Emission Component

A. Hajela, R. Margutti, J. S. Bright, K. Alexander, B. Metzger, V. Nedora, A. Kathirgamaraju, B. Margalit, D. Radice, C. Guidorzi, E. Berger, et al.

ApJ 2022

A Physical Model of Delayed Rebrightenings in Shock-interacting Supernovae without Narrow-line Emission

E. R. Coughlin, J. Zrake

ApJ 2021

Gamma Rays from Fast Black-hole Winds

M. Ajello, L. Baldini, J. Ballet, G. Barbiellini, D. Bastieri, R. Bellazzini, A. Berretta, E. Bissaldi, R. D. Blandford, E. D. Bloom, R. Bonino, et al.

MNRAS 2021

Shock-powered radio precursors of neutron star mergers from accelerating relativistic binary winds

N. Sridhar, J. Zrake, B. D. Metzger, L. Sironi, D. Giannios

ApJL 2021

Equilibrium Eccentricity of Accreting Binaries

J. Zrake, C. Tiede, A. MacFadyen, Z. Haiman

GRB Coordinates Network 2021

Continued Chandra observations of GW170817 at 3.3 years since merger

A. Hajela, R. Margutti, J. Bright, K. Alexander, W. Fong, E. Berger, R. Chornock, D. L. Coppejans, P. Blanchard, V. A. Villar, T. Eftekhari, et al.

ApJ 2020

Circumbinary Disks: Accretion and Torque as a Function of Mass Ratio and Disk Viscosity

P. Duffell, D. D'Orazio, A. Derdzinski, Z. Haiman, A. MacFadyen, A. Rosen, J. Zrake

ApJ 2020

Gas-driven Inspiral of Binaries in Thin Accretion Disks

C. Tiede, J. Zrake, A. MacFadyen, Z. Haiman

ApJL 2019

Two Years of Nonthermal Emission from the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817: Rapid Fading of the Jet Afterglow and First Constraints on the Kilonova Fastest Ejecta

A. Hajela, R. Margutti, K. Alexander, A. Kathirgamaraju, A. Baldeschi, C. Guidorzi, D. Giannios, W. Fong, Y. Wu, A. MacFadyen, A. Paggi, et al.

ApJ 2019

Subphotospheric Turbulence as a Heating Mechanism in Gamma-Ray Bursts

J. Zrake, A. Beloborodov, C. Lundman

ApJL 2019

The Optical Afterglow of GW170817: An Off-axis Structured Jet and Deep Constraints on a Globular Cluster Origin

W. Fong, P. Blanchard, K. Alexander, J. Strader, R. Margutti, A. Hajela, V. A. Villar, Y. Wu, C. S. Ye, E. Berger, R. Chornock, et al.

ApJ 2019

Dissipation of Alfvén Waves in Relativistic Magnetospheres of Magnetars

X. Li, J. Zrake, A. Beloborodov

Physics of Plasmas 2019

Nonthermal ion acceleration by the kink instability in nonrelativistic jets

P. Alves, J. Zrake, F. Fiuza

Bulletin of the AAS 2019

Multi-Messenger Astronomy with Extremely Large Telescopes

R. Chornock, P. Cowperthwaite, R. Margutti, D. Milisavljevic, K. D. Alexander, I. Andreoni, I. Arcavi, A. Baldeschi, J. Barnes, E. Bellm, P. Beniamini, et al.

AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division 2019

Efficient non-thermal particle acceleration mediated by the kink instability in jets

P. Alves, J. Zrake, F. Fiuza

APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting Abstracts 2019

Particle Acceleration by Current-driven Instabilities

J. Zrake

Phys Rev Lett 2018

Efficient Nonthermal Particle Acceleration by the Kink Instability in Relativistic Jets

P. Alves, J. Zrake, F. Fiuza

ApJL 2018

Radio Sky Maps of the GRB 170817A Afterglow from Simulations

J. Zrake, X. Xie, A. MacFadyen

ApJL 2018

A Decline in the X-Ray through Radio Emission from GW170817 Continues to Support an Off-axis Structured Jet

K. Alexander, R. Margutti, P. Blanchard, W. Fong, E. Berger, A. Hajela, T. Eftekhari, R. Chornock, P. S. Cowperthwaite, D. Giannios, C. Guidorzi, et al.

ApJ 2018

Numerical Simulations of the Jet Dynamics and Synchrotron Radiation of Binary Neutron Star Merger Event GW170817/GRB 170817A

X. Xie, J. Zrake, A. MacFadyen

ApJL 2018

The Binary Neutron Star Event LIGO/Virgo GW170817 160 Days after Merger: Synchrotron Emission across the Electromagnetic Spectrum

R. Margutti, K. Alexander, X. Xie, L. Sironi, B. Metzger, A. Kathirgamaraju, W. Fong, P. Blanchard, E. Berger, A. MacFadyen, D. Giannios, et al.

The Strongest Magnetic Fields in the Universe 2018

Magnetic Field Generation in Stars

L. Ferrario, A. Melatos, J. Zrake

ApJ 2017

Turbulent Magnetic Relaxation in Pulsar Wind Nebulae

J. Zrake, J. Arons

ApJ 2017

Ab Initio Simulations of a Supernova-driven Galactic Dynamo in an Isolated Disk Galaxy

I. Butsky, J. Zrake, J. Kim, H. Yang, T. Abel

ApJ 2016

Kinetic Study of Radiation-reaction-limited Particle Acceleration During the Relaxation of Unstable Force-free Equilibria

Y. Yuan, K. Nalewajko, J. Zrake, W. East, R. Blandford

ApJ 2016

Kinetic Simulations of the Lowest-order Unstable Mode of Relativistic Magnetostatic Equilibria

K. Nalewajko, J. Zrake, Y. Yuan, W. East, R. Blandford

ApJ 2016

Crab Flares due to Turbulent Dissipation of the Pulsar Striped Wind

J. Zrake

ApJ 2016

Freely Decaying Turbulence in Force-free Electrodynamics

J. Zrake, W. East

Journal of Computational Physics 2016

Simplex-in-cell technique for collisionless plasma simulations

J. Kates-Harbeck, S. Totorica, J. Zrake, T. Abel

American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #227 2016

Kinetic Study of Radiation-Reaction-Limited Particle Acceleration During the Relaxation of Force-Free Equilibria

Y. Yuan, K. Nalewajko, R. Blandford, W. East, J. Zrake

arXiv 2015

Active Galactic Nuclei: The TeV Challenge

R. Blandford, W. East, K. Nalewajko, Y. Yuan, J. Zrake

Space Science Reviews 2015

Magnetic Field Generation in Stars

L. Ferrario, A. Melatos, J. Zrake

Phys Rev Lett 2015

Spontaneous Decay of Periodic Magnetostatic Equilibria

W. East, J. Zrake, Y. Yuan, R. Blandford

ApJ 2015

Producing Magnetar Magnetic Fields in the Merger of Binary Neutron Stars

B. Giacomazzo, J. Zrake, P. Duffell, A. MacFadyen, R. Perna

American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #225 2015

Magnetoluminescence - Rapid Release of Electromagnetic Energy in Relativistic Sources

R. Blandford, Y. Yuan, J. Zrake

ApJL 2014

Inverse Cascade of Nonhelical Magnetic Turbulence in a Relativistic Fluid

J. Zrake

APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting Abstracts 2014

Simplex-In-Cell Method for Kinetic Plasma Simulation

S. Totorica, J. Kates-Harbeck, J. Zrake, T. Abel

ApJL 2013

Magnetic Energy Production by Turbulence in Binary Neutron Star Mergers

J. Zrake, A. MacFadyen

ApJL 2013

Spectral and Intermittency Properties of Relativistic Turbulence

J. Zrake, A. MacFadyen

American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #221 2013

High Resolution Simulations of Relativistic Hydrodynamic and MHD Turbulence

J. Zrake, A. MacFadyen

ApJ 2012

Numerical Simulations of Driven Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence

J. Zrake, A. MacFadyen

Gamma Ray Bursts 2010 2011

Numerical Simulations of Driven Supersonic Relativistic MHD Turbulence

J. Zrake, A. MacFadyen

Group Members

Jonathan Zrake

Jonathan works on a range of topics in high energy astrophysics, including binary black hole mergers, gamma-ray bursts, kilonovae, magnetic reconnection, and MHD turbulence. He is an expert in algorithms and software methodologies for high-performance simulation codes used in astrophysical hydrodynamics and MHD.

Debojyoti Garain

Debojyoti works jointly with Jonathan Zrake and Jeffrey Fung, investigating the dynamics of accretion disks across a variety of astrophysical environments. His recent work has focused on the OJ 287 binary supermassive black hole system, where he investigates how the secondary black hole perturbs the accretion disk of the primary and produces observable variability. He is also studying the formation and evolution of large-scale non-axisymmetric density structures, commonly known as “lumps,” in accretion flows. He obtained his PhD from IIT Kanpur, India, where he worked on tidal disruption events as probes of intermediate-mass black holes and gained expertise in numerical modelling of astrophysical fluids using the smooth particle hydrodynamics method.

Marcus Hatton

Marcus is a postdoctoral researcher currently studying the dynamics of gas around black hole binaries using hydrodynamic simulations. In particular, he is interested in the electromagnetic signatures of the accretion disks around each black hole in the late stages of their inspiral. He has also recently started working on analysis of multi-wavelength lightcurves produced by supermassive black hole binaries. He previously obtained his PhD from the University of Southampton, where he worked on dissipation and sub-grid models in relativistic hydrodynamics, and gained experience in numerical relativity.

Akhil Nair

Akhil Nair is a 4th year PhD student whose research focuses on hydrodynamical simulations of accretion and mass transfer in binary systems. His current work studies stochastic variability from circumbinary disks and minidisks around binary black holes, using power spectral densities to connect stream-fed accretion to predict observable AGN timing signatures. He also studies circumbinary outflows from Roche-lobe overflow systems. His broader interests include numerical methods for hydrodynamics, GPU-enabled simulation frameworks, and scientific visualization of astrophysical phenomena.

Matt Maini

Matt is a 3rd year PhD student interested in multi-messenger astronomy, specifically aiding in binary black hole electromagnetic detection methods. Currently, he is working on analytically predicting the false-positive rate of the Lomb-Scargle periodogram against noisy signals. From there, he plans to explore the effectiveness of a Convolutional Neural Network against synthetic and simulation-based light-curves, in order to discover binary black hole systems in legacy data.

Troy Hesse

Troy's research focuses on the dynamics of massive black hole binary (MBHB) systems as they interact with their galactic environments. He has developed a celestial mechanics code called Dust, which computes the trajectories of test-particles interacting with a the time-dependent gravitational field of an orbiting binary, which has been used to examine the ballistic approximation of binary-disk interactions. Troy also uses hydrodynamics simulations to understand the dynamics of "minidisk" formation around the individual black holes in binary systems.

Brayden JoHantgen

Brayden is a 2nd year PhD student interested in the development of magnetohydrodynamic simulations to study a variety of astrophysical phenomena. Recently this work has led to the creation How to Write a Magnetohydrodynamics Code note as a resource for others to produce their own magnetohydrodynamic simulations. He has interests in applying MHD simulations to super-luminous supernovae winds.