Michael Grehan

I am a computational and theoretical plasma astrophysicist pursuing my PhD at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Christopher Thompson and Bart Ripperda. Before beginning my PhD, I received my MSc from the University of Toronto and my BSc from the University of Winnipeg. My research focuses on the use of advanced numerical methods to model the complex plasma dynamics in the magnetospheres of magnetized compact objects, such as neutron stars and black holes. I develop and apply global and local relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations to model the conversion of magnetic energy into thermal and kinetic plasma energy via magnetic reconnection and shocks. I am also interested in improving our numerical methods and physical models to better capture fundamental relativistic plasma effects such as charge starvation in reconnection sites, pair production and radiative cooling.