Ed Cackett

Ed Cackett

• Chair, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Wayne State University, August 2023 onwards
• Interim Chair, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Wayne State University, August 2022 - July 2023
• Professor, Wayne State University, August 2022-present
• Associate Professor, Wayne State University, 2016-2022
• Assistant Professor, Wayne State University, 2012-2016
• Postdoctral Research Fellow, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, 2010-2011
• Schlumberger Research Fellow, Darwin College, University of Cambridge, 2010-2011
• Chandra Fellow, University of Michigan, 2008-2010
• Dean MacLaughlin Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan, 2006-2008

Research interest(s)/area of expertise

• Astrophysics of compact objects (neutron stars and black holes), more specifically:

• Accretion across the mass scale: from neutron stars and black holes in X-ray binaries to Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN)

• Accretion disks around supermassive black holes

• Reverberation mapping in AGN (optical, UV and X-ray) and X-ray binaries (X-ray)

• Reflection and reverberation in neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries

• Observational probes of the neutron star dense matter equation of state (neutron star radii and masses)

• Accretion at low rates and quiescent emission from neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries

Research

Press-release and link to Nature cover article I co-authored (01/10/2019) here.

Press-releases (31 May 2012) from NASA and ESA about a paper I co-authored.

 

Education

• Ph.D., University of St Andrews, UK, 2007
• M. Sci., University of Durham, UK, 2003

Awards and grants

• WSU Career Development Chair (2017)

• WSU Department of Physics & Astronomy Richard J. Barber Faculty Recognitiion Award (2017)

• NSF CAREER award (2014)

• Wayne State Academy of Scholars, Junior Faculty Award (2015)

• Sultana N. Nahar Prize for Distinction in Research in Physics and Astronomy, Wayne State University (2019)

Selected publications

• As of 20 July 2023: 206 articles published in peer-reviewed journals
• An up-to-date lists of publications can be found using the following links:
• NASA ADS
• arXiv

Citation index

• More than 10,600 total citations

• h-index: 58 (as of 20 July 2023)

Courses taught by Ed Cackett

Fall Term 2023 (current)

• PHY5620 - Electronics and Electrical Measurements
• PHY6991 - Special Topics
• PHY1001 - Perspectives in Physics, Biomedical Physics, and Astronomy
• AST1010 - Discovering the Universe

Fall Term 2022

• PHY5620 - Electronics and Electrical Measurements
• PHY1001 - Perspectives in Physics, Biomedical Physics, and Astronomy
• AST1010 - Discovering the Universe

Winter Term 2022

• AST4100 - Astronomical Techniques
• AST4200 - Astronomical Laboratory

Fall Term 2021

• AST2010 - Descriptive Astronomy