WELCOME

Hi, My name's Nils Deppe! I'm a computational astrophysicist developing efficient, scalable software to solve challenging technical problems. That's sort of vague, but I'm interested in many different problems that all require creative, efficient, and scalable software solutions. I enjoy spending my free time time with my partner, hiking, listening to music, hanging out with our cat, and playing Nintendo Switch.

About Me

I'm currently an Assistant Professor of Physics at Cornell University.

Before joining Cornell I was Sherman Fairchild postdoctoral fellow in computational astrophysics at Caltech. I completed my Ph.D. in computational astrophysics at Cornell University under the supervision of Prof. Saul Teukolsky and Dr. Lawrence Kidder. My work mostly focused on developing and implementing new high-order spectral methods for relativistic magnetohydrodynamics and solving the Einstein equations. In particular, my research focuses on ensuring numerical relativity simulations are accurate enough for next-generation gravitational wave observatories like Cosmic Explorer, Einstein Telescope, and LISA. I am a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes collaboration, and a core developer of the next-generation numerical relativity code, SpECTRE.

My work on binary black hole merger simulations focuses on reducing computational cost and increasing accuracy to meet the demands of next-generation gravitational wave observatories. For this I use SpECTRE as well as the Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes' current production code, SpEC. My work on single and binary neutron star simulations focuses on improving simulation accuracy and including additional microphysics. I also collaborate with graduate students and postdocs using SpECTRE to study accretion disks around black holes and stellar explosions/core-collapse supernovae. While my current research focuses on binary mergers, I've also worked on critical behavior in gravitational collapse, stability of anti-de Sitter spacetime, and gravitational wave extraction from merger simulations.

Headshot image of Nils Deppe

Publications and Software

You can find my publications and open-source software I've developed at the links below.