Lars Hernquist

Lars Hernquist (December 14, 1954) is a theoretical astrophysicist and Mallinckrodt Professor of Astrophysics at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. He is best known for his research on dynamical processes in cosmology and galaxy formation/galaxy evolution.^[1][2][3][4]

Lars Eric Hernquist
Nationality	American
Alma mater	California Institute of Technology
Known for	Hernquist Profile Illustris project
Awards	Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2020)
Scientific career
Fields	Astrophysics
Institutions	Harvard University Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian University of California, Santa Cruz
Thesis	Thermal and Magnetic Properties of Neutron Stars (1985)
Doctoral advisor	Roger Blandford

Career and research

Hernquist's research involves the dynamics of galaxies and the effect of a merger driven model for galaxy evolution. He is a world expert in simulating mergers of galaxies to demonstrate the expected appearance and morphology of the resulting body. He defined the "Hernquist Profile", which is an analytic expression for the distribution of dark matter in galaxies.^[5] Hernquist's research is largely computational with one of the world's largest supercomputers accessible for his research.^[6]

Awards

Hernquist was awarded the 2020 Gruber Prize in Cosmology jointly with Volker Springel, who together have made computer simulations "an indispensable tool for cosmologists, allowing them to test theories and locate fertile areas for further research."^[7]