Frans Pretorius
Princeton University
2017 New Horizons in Physics Prize
For creating the first computer code capable of simulating the inspiral and merger of binary black holes, thereby laying crucial foundations for interpreting the recent observations of gravitational waves; and for opening new directions in numerical relativity.
Comments
I am grateful to an ever supportive family, my academic mentors over the years, most notably my MSc adviser Werner Israel and PhD adviser Matthew Choptuik, and for living in a society that encourages and supports the pursuit of knowledge, even in fields as esoteric as my own.
