Numerical Relativist and Black Hole Astrophysicist

After graduating with my Bachelors Degrees in Physics and in Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin in 2023, I am now pursuing graduate study in Astrophysics at Vanderbilt University. Below, I have outlined several of my past and present projects. For a more general overview of my career, see my CV.

Ryan Nowicki presenting their research at the 2023 CUWIP meeting at TCU.
Ongoing Work

Numerical
Relativity

Numerical Relativity is the study of gravity in regions where it is most extreme — black holes, neutron stars, and other compact objects — via supercomputer simulations of these extreme spacetimes. My focus is currently on binary black hole merger events and how eccentricity and spin precession affect the resulting gravitational waveforms.

Ongoing Work

Parameter Estimation
with RIFT Code

RIFT (Rapid parameter inference via Iterative FiTing) is a parameter estimation algorithm developed by scientists at the Rochester Institute of Technology to analyze gravitational wave sources. I currently employ RIFT code to analyze gravitational wave events and injections for signs of eccentricity and precession.

Summer 2022

REU at WVU
Summer Research Experience for Undergrads

I had the great privilege of getting to participate in West Virginia University's summer Research Experience for Undergraduates in 2022! While there I worked under Dr. Sarah Burke-Spolaor and helped design BOBcat, the Black holes Orbiting Black holes Catalog. I was able to present my contributions to the project at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, as well as at the 2023 Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP) at Texas Christian University. You can read more about my REU experience here!