Doctor of Philosophy in Astrophysical Sciences - Computational Astrophysics

Computation has become an essential tool in theoretical astrophysics, data analysis, and modeling, and Princeton is a world leader in the development and application of numerical methods in astrophysics. Researchers at Princeton use scientific computation to study an enormous range of physical processes. At the largest scales, N-body, hydrodynamic, and radiative transfer methods are used to study cosmological structure formation, galaxy formation, and reionization (Cen, J. Ostriker). This work has helped establish the modern theory of the Lyman alpha forest (Cen, J. Ostriker). At the smallest scales, particle-in-cell (PIC) methods are used to follow particle acceleration, kinetic turbulence, and microscale instabilities in dilute astrophysical plasmas ('Spitkovsky, Kunz). In between, a wide variety of numerical methods are used to understand core-collapse supernova explosions (Burrows), accretion onto compact objects (Burrows, 'Spitkovsky, 'Stone), gravitational fragmentation of molecular clouds and star formation ('Stone, E. Ostriker), accretion disks ('Stone, Kunz), turbulent driving and dissipation in the interstellar medium (E. Ostriker) and the solar wind (Kunz), and the light scattering properties of interstellar dust grains (Draine), just to name a few.

All official Transcripts. A bachelor's degree or its foreign equivalent from an accredited college or university. Official transcripts of your grades.
Three letters of recommendation. Applicants are required to upload a transcript (may be unofficial at this time) including the key from all attended colleges or universities.
The transcript must show the name of the student, name of the issuing institution, name of courses taken, and the grades received in those courses.
The Graduate School does not have a minimum TOEFL or IELTS score requirement. If you are offered admission and accept our offer and have scored below a 27 on the Speaking sub-section of the TOEFL iBT or below an 8.0 on the Speaking sub-section of the IELTS you will be required to take an English placement test at the start of the fall term. Students who do not pass the test will be required to enroll in English Language Program classes.

GRE :
General Test optional/not required, Physics Subject Test optional/not required