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Bridgewater State

Exact Gravitational Lensing by Rotating Black Holes

Dr. Thomas Kling is a theoretical physicist specializing in gravitational lensing. His research focuses on how general relativity predicts the gravitational bending of light rays and what this bending reveals about the universe. Dr. Kling is one of the first researchers at Bridgewater State to utilize high-performance computing resources at the MGHPCC.

Gravitational lensing occurs when the gravity of a massive celestial object, such as a galaxy or galaxy cluster, bends the light from a more distant object, distorting or magnifying the observed image. Black holes, with their intense gravitational fields, significantly alter the direction and shape of light rays. This results in multiple images of an object near a black hole, each varying in brightness and shape. Working with students, Dr. Kling’s research uses advanced computer models to study how objects near rotating black holes appear differently by simulating light ray trajectories based on the geodesic equation of general relativity.

Dr. Thomas Kling
Professor and Chair of Physics, Photonics and Optical Engineering, Bridgewater State University

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