Prof. Maxim Lyutikov
Ph.D. in Theoretical Astrophysics, Caltech (1998); previously at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, McGill University and the University of British Columbia. At Purdue since 2006.
Maxim Lyutikov is one of the leading theorists in relativistic plasma astrophysics, the physics of magnetically dominated, relativistic plasmas around neutron stars and black holes. His work has shaped how we think about pulsar and magnetar magnetospheres, electromagnetic models of gamma-ray bursts and relativistic jets, magnetic reconnection in the relativistic regime, and the coherent emission mechanisms behind pulsar radio emission and Fast Radio Bursts.
His recent research develops the physics of relativistically strong electromagnetic waves in pair plasmas, “astrophysical lasers”, bridging laboratory laser–plasma physics and the most extreme radio transients in the Universe. He is also the founder and organiser of the Purdue Workshops on Relativistic Plasma Astrophysics.
From recent work
Notes
- Pulsars, magnetars and their magnetospheres; force-free electrodynamics
- Gamma-ray bursts and relativistic jets as electromagnetically driven outflows
- Relativistic magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration
- Coherent radio emission: pulsars and Fast Radio Bursts
- Relativistically strong waves in pair plasmas, “astrophysical lasers”
M.Sc. in Theoretical Physics, Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (1992). Ph.D., Caltech (1998). Postdoctoral fellow at CITA (1998–2000), CITA National Fellow at McGill (2000–2004), research associate at UBC (2004–2006). Purdue University since 2006, Professor of Physics and Astronomy.