Robert I. Hynes, Ph.D.
Robert I. Hynes, PhD
associate Professor of Physics
Ph.D., 1999 - The Open University
Louisiana State University
Department of Physics & Astronomy
247-A Nicholson Hall, Tower Dr.
Baton Rouge, LA 70803-4001
Personal Home Page
Multiwavelength Observational Astronomy
My research involves multiwavelength observations of accreting compact
objects such as black holes and neutron stars. My primary interests are
in applying such observations to understand the structure, physical
conditions, and astrophysics of the accretion flows onto these objects
in both X-ray bright phases and quiescent states. To achieve this I use
a variety of space-based telescopes including the Hubble Space
Telescope for ultraviolet and optical observations and the Chandra
X-ray Observatory and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer for X-ray data, and
also several ground-based optical, infrared, and radio facilities. In
more detail, my two most active interests are: constraining the
geometry and efficiency of X-ray irradiation of accretion disks using
multiwavelength spectral energy distributions and reverberation
mapping; and probing the instabilities in accretion onto quiescent
black holes by studying short-timescale variability and correlating
variability at different wavelengths.
Current and Selected Publications
- Migliari, S., Tomsick, J.A., Miller-Jones, J.C.A., Heinz, S., Hynes, R.I., Fender, R.P., Gallo, E., Jonker, P.G., Maccarone, T.J., Ap. J. 710, 117, "The Complete Spectrum of the Neutron Star X-ray Binary 4U 0614+091" (2010).
- Bayless, A.J., Robinson, E.L., Hynes, R.I., Ashcraft, T.A., Cornell, M.E., Ap. J. 709, 251, "The Structure of the Accretion Disk in the Accretion Disk Corona X-ray Binary 4U 1822-371 at Optical and Ultraviolet Wavelengths" (2010).
- Hynes, R.I., Bradley, C.K., Rupen, M., Gallo, E., Fender, R.P., Casares J., Zurita, C., MNRAS 399, 2239, "The quiescent spectral energy distribution of V404 Cyg" (2009).
- Hynes, R.I., O'Brien, K., Mullally, F., Ashcraft, T., MNRAS 399, 281, "Echo mapping of Swift J1753.5-0127" (2009).
- Hynes, R.I., Jones E.D., Ap. J. 697, L14, "Echo mapping of Swift J1753.5-0127" (2009).