NASA Postdoctoral Program - Astrophysics: Theoretical Gamma-Ray Astrophysics

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA's missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology. This specific opportunity focuses on theoretical gamma-ray astrophysics research conducted in the Laboratory for High-Energy Astrophysics at Goddard Space Flight Center. The research concerns astrophysical processes that produce emission at gamma-ray energies and attempts to answer fundamental questions such as the origin, structure, and evolution of the Universe; the nature of compact objects; the origin of cosmic rays; and the structure and evolution of the galaxy. Research topics include gamma-ray line and continuum production mechanisms, physical processes in strong magnetic fields, physics of electron-positron pair plasmas, and radiation transfer in the gamma-ray regime. These physical processes are applied to models of compact sources including active galactic nuclei, the galactic center, galactic gamma-ray sources, pulsars, and gamma-ray bursters, as well as diffuse sources of gamma-rays. Applicants are encouraged to participate in the above research or to initiate related projects, including gamma-ray tests of special relativity and proposed quantum gravity effects on high energy gamma-ray processes.