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Richard Alfred Matzner is an American physicist, working mostly in the field of general relativity and cosmology, including numerical relativity, kinetic theory, black hole physics, and gravitational radiation. He is Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at Austin where he directed the Center for Relativity. In 1993 he organized and was Lead Principal Investigator of an NSF/ARPA funded computational Grand Challenge program involving ten university teams seeking computational descriptions for the interaction of black holes as potential sources for observable gravitational radiation. His work leading what became known as the Binary Black Hole Grand Challenge Alliance featured in Kip Thorne's Nobel Prize lecture, including when Matzner and Alliance collaborators wagered Thorne that numerical relativity would produce a simulated waveform comparable to observation prior to the first LIGO detection. Matzner and colleagues eventually won, Thorne saying he "conceded the bet with great happiness."

Education and career

Matzner received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in Physics in 1967, advised by Charles Misner. He concluded his graduate education with a year at the University of Cambridge. Matzner has advised and educated students in cosmology, relativity, and astrophysics. He was one of the first to calculate what a simplified, head-on collision between two black holes would look like, including the weak gravitational waves such a merger could emit. He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1995 for "his analyses in general relativity of a wide range of astrophysical phenomena, especially his numerical simulations of strong-field gravitational systems and the gravitational radiation they produce." Matzner's research in theoretical questions includes topology and signature change in the early universe, and quantum gravity using the tool of path integration. His observational/experimental studies include tests of General Relativistic effects via laser-ranging to dense geodetic satellites. These experiments resulted in the first (and best as of 2023) measurement and confirmation of the Lens-Thirring frame-dragging effect, predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity, to within 10 percent. Matzner is Co-I of the LARES (Laser Relativity Satellite) satellite team, the densest artificial satellite in orbit, launched in 2012, with a second satellite, LARES 2, launched in 2022.

Policy, Outreach, & Diplomacy

Matzner served on advisory committees to the US Air Force, the National Science Foundation, the National Research Council, the European Space Agency, and the Department of Energy, such as the committee which determined relativity was needed for time transfer accuracy in satellite systems (GPS). He was on research assignment at Los Alamos National Laboratory, in the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, beginning a Dictionary of Geophysics, Astrophysics, and Astronomy. His science outreach activities include appointment to the Jefferson Science Fellows at the US Department of State, which placed Matzner as Senior Science Advisor in the East Asia and Pacific Bureau at the U.S. State Department. He advised on subjects including "Space and Cyber questions, Health, Environmental and Climate Change and its effect on the oceans, topics relating to Energy and to Scarce Material resources, on Innovation, and on Commercialization of academic research" and "contributed to and participated in meetings on space security in Vietnam and Malaysia, and on joint scientific commission meetings with Malaysia and Australia." Matzner participated on scientific editorial boards, served for a decade as Southwest Region Lead Judge for the Siemens/Westinghouse Science Competition, and co-directed international summer schools on Relativistic Astrophysics in Erice, Italy. His international collaborations and long-term visits include at institutes in Britain (University of Oxford), France, Germany (external advisory committee to the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics), Turkey, and Italy (Aerospace Engineering Department at University of Rome on laser ranged satellites and relativistic astrophysics lecture series at the University in Lecce).

Recognitions

• Fellow of the American Physical Society (1995)
• Foreign member of the Academy of Sciences of Turin

References

1. "Richard Matzner in INSPIRE High Energy Physics Database". CERN, DESY, Fermilab, IHEP, IN2P3, and SLAC. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
2. "Richard Matzner at the University of Texas at Austin Department of Physics". Retrieved 2023-08-14.
3. Thorne, Kip (2018-12-18). "Nobel Lecture: LIGO and gravitational waves III". Rev. Mod. Phys. 90 (40503): 040503. Bibcode:2018RvMP...90d0503T. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.90.040503. S2CID 125431568.
4. Matzner, Richard; Seidel, H (1995-11-10). "Geometry of a Black Hole Collision". Science. 270 (5238): 941–947. Bibcode:1995Sci...270..941M. doi:10.1126/science.270.5238.941. S2CID 121172545. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
5. Choptuik, M. (1997). D. A. Clarke and M. J. West (ed.). The Binary Black Hole Grand Challenge Project. 12th Kingston Meeting on Theoretical Astrophysics; proceedings of meeting held in Halifax; Nova Scotia; Canada October 17-19, 1996. Computational Astrophysics. Vol. 123, no. ASP Conference Series. pp. 305–313. Bibcode:1997ASPC..123..305C. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
6. "Binary Black Hole Grand Challenge Alliance page at Center for Research on Parallel Computing at Rice University". Retrieved 2023-09-24.
7. Jani, Karan (3 October 2017). "Exclusive: Interview With Kip Thorne, One of the Winners of 2017 Physics Nobel". The Wire. The Wire. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
8. Thorne, Kip S. (2017-12-08). Kip S. Thorne – Nobel Lecture (Speech). Nobel Prize Ceremony. Stockholm University: Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-19.
9. "A Brief History of Gravitational Waves Research at the University of Maryland". 10 November 2021. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
10. ^ "National Academies: Jefferson Science Fellows 2004 – 2017" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-08-14.
11. Ali, Eunice (2016-02-14). "UT alumnus leads team in detecting gravitational waves, confirms Einstein's theory". The Daily Texan. Austin, Texas. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
12. "Mathematics Genealogy Project on Richard Matzner". Retrieved 2023-09-24.
13. Wright, Matthew (2016-10-29). "The Chirps Heard Round the World". Odyssey magazine. University of Maryland. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
14. "APS Fellow Archive". www.aps.org. American Physical Society. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
15. "Richard Matzner in zbMATH". Retrieved 2023-09-24.
16. Ellis, G. F. R.; Rothman, Tony (1989). "THE GARDEN OF COSMOLOGICAL DELIGHTS". Science a La Mode: Physical Fashions and Fictions. Princeton University Press, JSTOR. pp. 3–28. JSTOR j.ctt7zvs2k.4. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
17. "ResearchGate database results on Richard Matzner". Retrieved 2023-09-24.
18. Ciufolini, Ignazio; Paolozzi, Antonio; Pavlis, Erricos C.; Ries, John; Koenig, Rolf; Matzner, Richard; Sindoni, Giampiero; Neumayer, Hans (11 August 2011). "Testing gravitational physics with satellite laser ranging". The European Physical Journal Plus. 126 (8): 72. Bibcode:2011EPJP..126...72C. doi:10.1140/epjp/i2011-11072-2. ISSN 2190-5444. S2CID 122205903. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
19. Will, Clifford M. (31 May 2011). "Finally, results from Gravity Probe B". Physics. 4 (22): 43. arXiv:1105.3456. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.221101. PMID 21702590. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
20. "NASA LARES Mission page LARES". Retrieved 2023-09-24.
21. "Home - Lares Mission". www.lares-mission.com. LARES Mission Lab. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
22. "Richard Matzner in Oden Institute Directory". Retrieved 2023-08-14.
23. ^ "Richard Matzner in UT Experts". Retrieved 2023-09-24.
24. Andreas Albrecht; Stefi Baum; Sarah Church; Debra Elmegreen; Joshua Frieman; Martha Haynes; Gregory Laughlin; Mordecai-Mark Mac Low; Richard Matzner; Paul Vanden Bout; John Wefel; Brian Winer; Charles Woodward (2012-03-15). Report of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (PDF) (Report). National Science Foundation. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
25. Andreas Albrecht; Stefi Baum; James Buckley; William Cochran; Priscilla Cushman; Debra Elmegreen; Joshua Frieman; Martha Haynes; Mordecai-Mark Mac Low; Geoffrey Marcy; Richard Matzner; Paula Szkody; Paul Vanden Bout (2013-03-08). Report of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (PDF) (Report). National Science Foundation. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
26. Andreas Albrecht; Stefi Baum; James Buckley; William Cochran; Priscilla Cushman; Craig Hogan; Mordecai-Mark Mac Low; Geoffrey Marcy; Richard Matzner; Angela Olinto; Paula Szkody; Angela Speck; Suzanne Staggs (2014-03-15). Report of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (PDF) (Report). National Science Foundation. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
27. "National Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee Members Bio on Richard Matzner" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-09-24.
28. "Accuracy of Time Transfer in Satellite Systems". The National Academies Press. National Academies Press. 1 January 1986. doi:10.17226/19205. ISBN 978-0-309-32099-3. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
29. Laguna, P.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Matzner, R. A. (January 1991). "Los Alamos National Laboratory archives, DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information". Retrieved 2023-09-24.
30. Bloodworth, Sarah (2017-05-03). "Sci-Fact Column: Rick, Morty and the multiverse". The Daily Texan. Austin, TX. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
31. ^ "Richard Matzner in National Academies Directory". Retrieved 2023-08-14.
32. International School on Astrophysical Relativity (PDF) (poster). Sicily, Italy: NASA, Ettore Majorana Foundation, World Federation of Scientists. 2006. Retrieved 2023-09-24.

External links

• - Richard Matzner at the University of Texas at Austin, Department of Physics
• - Richard Matzner at the National Academies

• Living people
• 21st-century American physicists
• University of Texas at Austin faculty
• University of Maryland, College Park alumni
• Jefferson Science Fellows