Postdoctoral Researcher (Computational Astrophysics)

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Job Posting Title:

Postdoctoral Researcher (Computational Astrophysics)

   

Position Type:

Other Academic

   

Department:

LSUAM Science - PA - Astrophysics (Emmanouil Chatzopoulos (00041660))

   

Work Location:

0243 J.W. Nicholson Hall

   

Pay Grade:

Other Academic

   

Job Description:

The Department of Physics & Astronomy at Louisiana State University invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher or Senior Postdoctoral Researcher to join Dr. Emmanouil Chatzopoulos’ group in computational astrophysics. The successful candidate will lead efforts to model electromagnetic signals (light curves and spectra) from extreme astrophysical transient phenomena, including superluminous supernovae, pulsational pair-instability supernovae (PPISNe), stellar mergers, and other luminous transients of interest.

Our group utilizes a suite of numerical frameworks:

• Stellar evolution codes (e.g., MESA for single and binary evolution),

• Hydrodynamics and radiation-hydrodynamics codes (e.g., STELLA, SNEC, OctoTiger), and

• Radiation transport frameworks (SuperNu and our in-house variant, SuperLite, TARDIS).

The Postdoc will play a leading role in advancing these methods, including extending the SuperLite code to 2D/3D geometries for radiation transport in non-symmetric circumstellar interaction scenarios. The position will also involve close collaboration with Los Alamos National Lab (LANL) partners, mentoring graduate students, contributing to proposal preparation, and disseminating results at conferences and through peer-reviewed publications.

Key responsibilities for the postdoctoral position:

• Assist with development, implementation, and run large-scale simulations of massive star evolution, supernova explosions, and stellar mergers using MESA, OctoTiger, STELLA, and SuperLite.

• Assist in development and extension of the SuperLite radiation transport framework to handle 2D/3D geometries and non-homologous outflows.

• Generate synthetic light curves and spectra for direct comparison with observational data from JWST, Vera Rubin Observatory (LSST), and other surveys.

• Collaborate with PI and team members on high-performance computing allocations, large-scale simulation campaigns, and multi-institutional collaborations.

• Assist with mentoring graduate and undergraduate students in computational methods, scientific programming, and analysis.

• Present results at national and international conferences and contribute to publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Key responsibilities for the senior postdoctoral position in addition to the above:

• Expected to lead research efforts.

• Mentor graduate and undergraduate students.

• Participate in professional development activities, grant-writing workshops, and broader impacts efforts.

Minimum qualifications: (Both levels) Ph.D. in physics, astronomy, astrophysics, or a closely related field (required; must be completed before hire date); (Postdoctoral) Experience in numerical methods in astrophysics, stellar evolution and/or stellar nucleosynthesis. (Senior Postdoctoral) Three years of postgraduate experience in Numerical Methods in Astrophysics, Theoretical Astrophysics, Stellar Evolution, Numerical Hydrodynamics with AMR or SPH codes, or Stellar nucleosynthesis.

Preferred qualifications:

• Demonstrated expertise in computational astrophysics, including one or more of: stellar evolution, hydrodynamics, radiation hydrodynamics, radiation transport.

• Experience with large-scale computing, parallelization, and programming in Fortran, C++, or related languages; proficiency in Python for data analysis. Prior experience with codes such as MESA, STELLA, SNEC, OctoTiger, or SuperNu/SuperLite is highly desirable.

• (Senior Postdoctoral level) Strong publication record and evidence of effective collaboration in research teams.

   

Additional Job Description:

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