Eric Poisson

Eric Poisson (* 26. Juli 1965) ist ein kanadischer Physiker, der Schwarze Löcher erforscht . Er ist Professor an der Universität Guelph und Mitglied des Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo , Ontario , Kanada.

Er wurde in Montreal , Quebec , geboren und wuchs in Rimouski und Quebec City auf . Seinen Bachelor-Abschluss erwarb er an der Universität Laval in Quebec City, seinen Doktortitel erlangte er 1991 an der Universität von Alberta unter der Betreuung von Werner Israel .

Poissons Doktorarbeit befasste sich mit dem Konzept der Masseninflation (nicht zu verwechseln mit der kosmologischen Inflation ), das er gemeinsam mit Israel maßgeblich entwickelte. ^{[ 1 ]} Vor dem Verständnis der Masseninflation ging man davon aus, dass sich in manchen Schwarzen Löchern Wurmlöcher in andere Universen befänden. Die Masseninflation verschließt diese Wurmlöcher in realistischen Schwarzen Löchern.

After completing his doctorate, Poisson spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow in the research group led by Kip Thorne at the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena. During this period, he became interested in the gravitational-wave signatures that black hole systems might produce. Such signatures are crucial for the operation of gravitational-wave detectors such as LIGO. This work continued for a subsequent year spent with Clifford Will at Washington University in St. Louis.

His research now focuses on gravitational self-force, which is the force on a body moving through a gravitational field arising from the mass and energy of the body itself. This self-force is expected to play a crucial role in understanding the motion of a stellar mass black hole orbiting and eventually spiraling into a supermassive black hole such as those that reside at the centers of galaxies. These astronomical systems will be of special interest to space-based gravitational wave detectors such as Laser Interferometer Space Antennae when they are built, because they will allow precision measurements of the gravitational field of a black hole for the first time.

• Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, the highest honor awarded by the Canadian Association of Physicists.^[1] (2005)
• Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society, for important contributions to the theory of gravitational radiation from compact bodies orbiting black holes, to the theory of back-reaction of the emitted radiation on their motions, and to understanding the implications for gravitational-wave detection. (2008)

• A Relativist's Toolkit, The Mathematics of Black-Hole Mechanics, Cambridge University Press (June 7, 2004). ISBN 978-0521830911.
• Gravity: Newtonian, Post-Newtonian, Relativistic (with Clifford M. Will), Cambridge University Press (May 31, 2014). ISBN 978-1107032866.

• Eric Poisson's webpage