Prof. Sam Gralla receives APS Fellowship

Congratulations to Professor Sam Gralla, who has been elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society by the Division of Gravitational Physics For outstanding and wide-ranging contributions to general relativity and relativistic astrophysics.

Prof. Gralla is known for his innovative work on a wide range of problems in strong gravity, from fundamental physics to observational astronomy.  Key contributions include deriving equations of motion for gravitating bodies including their own self-field, finding analytical (approximate and exact) solutions for diffuse plasmas near black holes and neutron stars, and discovering novel observational signatures of rapidly spinning black holes.  He is also known for his work elucidating the role of strongly lensed photons in black hole images (the "photon ring"), clarifying the interpretation of present ground-based observations and motivating future space-based radio astronomy.  His more theoretical contributions include new asymptotic symmetries of general relativity and the decoherence of quantum superpositions by rotating black holes.

The APS Fellowship Program recognizes members who have made exceptional contributions in physics research, important applications of physics, significant contributions to physics education, or leadership in or service to APS.