Simon Blouin
I am a CITA National Fellow in astrophysics at the University of Victoria.
I use a vast array of numerical simulation techniques to build improved physics models of white dwarfs (dead stars). By comparing those models to astronomical observations, I use white dwarfs as accurate cosmic clocks, probes of planetary evolution, and tracers of supernovae. This Physics Today article is a good introduction to the kind of questions I am currently working on.
I hold a PhD in Physics from the Université de Montréal (2019). I was previously a Banting Fellow at the University of Victoria (2021-23) and a Director's Postdoc Fellow at Los Alamos National Lab (2019-21).
You can contact me at sblouin@uvic.ca.
Some highlights of my research
Interview with Fraser Cain (Universe Today) on the halting of white dwarf cooling (see our Nature paper)
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3D hydrodynamics simulation of the interior of a red giant branch star (vorticity rendering, see here for details)
My recent work on the crystallization of white dwarfs (IReNA seminar, November 2022)
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Public lecture on white dwarfs (Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, May 2022)
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Talk on the cool white dwarf model atmospheres that I have developed (STScI, September 2020)