Dr. Rainer Weinberger

Research Focus

Computational Galaxy Formation: My work uses large cosmological simulations to study how structure and galaxies form from the early universe to the present day. I focus particularly on the demographics of supermassive black holes, massive galaxies and galaxy clusters.

Multi-Fluid Methods: Gas in and around galaxies exists in multiple phases, from hot and diffuse to cold, dense, and molecular, but accurately modeling these coexisting states remains challenging because cold clouds are often too small to resolve directly. Using a multi-fluid technique that treats gas as intrinsically two-phase and models unresolved interactions statistically enables global galaxy simulations without resolving individual clouds.

Active Galactic Nucleus Feedback: Supermassive black holes reside in the center of most massive galaxies as a byproduct of their formation. Over cosmic time, gas can fall onto these black holes and, in the process, release enormous amounts of energy in the shape of intense radiation or relativistic, collimated outflows and alter the evolution of its host galaxy substantially.