On this episode of Radio Physics, astrophysicist Cole Miller, joined by intern Sasha Fielder, discusses a range of fascinating topics in this episode, including black holes—from the formation of early, very massive black holes to black holes orbiting black holes and the gravitational waves they produce. The conversation also explores multi-messenger astronomy, neutron stars, tidal forces, and discoveries from LIGO and VIRGO, along with insights gained from working with NASA’s NICER mission, all highlighting how these observations are opening new windows on the universe.
Cole Miller was born and raised in rural Michigan. He went to the California Institute of Technology for his graduate work, where he received his Ph.D. in 1990. He then decided to take another look at the Midwest, doing postdoctoral work at the University of Illinois with Professor Fred Lamb, and then postdoctoral work at the University of Chicago with Fred's identical twin brother Don Lamb (physicists would call this a Lamb shift). He started as an assistant professor of astronomy in 1999 at the University of Maryland, which means that he has been a professor for two millennia. He became a full professor at Maryland in 2009, where he specializes in theoretical work on black holes, neutron stars, and gravitational waves, and his teaching philosophy is that all astronomical topics can be explained using a basketball.
Listen to Radio Physics on KDNK every third Wednesday at 4:30pm.
