George M. Fuller
ProfessorPh.D. California Institute of Technology, 1981
My research area is theoretical astrophysics and my recent work is principally in the field of nuclear and particle astrophysics. I am presently working on two broad subject topics: the neutrino and weak interaction physics of stellar evolution, stellar collapse, and supernovae; and the physics of the early and late-early universe.
The supernova explosion mechanism and heavy element nucleosynthesis are determined by the neutrinos emitted in the collapse of the core of a massive star. My graduate students and I are actively engaged in using what is known about weak interaction physics to elucidate supernova dynamics and nucleosynthesis, and vice versa. [For example, we have discovered that heavy element nucleosynthesis from supernovae can be very sensitive to neutrino flavor mixing when either the mu and tau neutrino has a mass in the range of interest for neutrino hot dark matter.]
I am involved in a number of problems in cosmology. My graduate students and I have worked to characterize how primordial nucleosynthesis depends on the spatial distribution of baryon-to-photon number. We are also working on how nonlinear fluctuations evolve. These investigations are important for constraining the physics of cosmic phase transitions and new models of galaxy and large scale structure formation. This work involves a range of physics issues from particle physics to radiation hydrodynamics to general relativity.
Selected Publications:
Neutron Shell Blocking of Electron Capture During Gravitational Collapse. Astrophys. J. 252, 741 (1982).
Can a Closure Mass Neutrino Help Solve the Supernova Shock Reheating Problem? With R. Mayle et al. Astrophys. J. 389, 517 (1992).
Connection between Flavor Mixing of Cosmologically Significant Neutrinos and Heavy Element Nucleosynthesis in Supernovae. With Y.Z. Qian et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 1965 (1993).
The Evolution of Non-Linear Sub-Horizon Scale Entropy Fluctuations in the Early Universe. With K. Jedamzik. Astrophys. J. 423, 33 (1994).
Inhomogeneous Primordial Nucleosynthesis: Coupled Nuclear Reactions and Hydrodynamic Dissipation Processes. With K. Jedamzik and G.J. Mathews. Astrophys. J. 423, 50 (1994).
©University of California, San Diego - Department of Physics 1998
Creation / Modification Date: February 1, 1999
