Eric B. Ford
Distinguished Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics
Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics
Institute for Computational & Data Sciences
Center for Exoplanets & Habitable Worlds
Center for Astrostatistics & Astroinformatics
Astrobiology Research Center
Penn State University
About
My research centers around exoplanets, with long-term goals of improving our understanding of planet formation and the dynamical evolution of planetary systems. My research group includes both theoretical modeling of planetary systems and interpretation of exoplanet observations. I emphasize the interface between theory and observation, including techniques for characterizing extrasolar planets, the statistical analysis of extrasolar planet observations, methodology for exoplanet demographics, and the efficient design of extrasolar planet surveys. I collaborate with leading planet surveys, including NASA’s Kepler mission, the Habitable Zone Planet Finder (HPF) and NEID science teams. Ultimately, my research aims to improve our understanding of planet formation & evolution, both in our Solar System and in general.
Research Interests
🔭 Extremely Precise Radial Velocities
Developing methods to detect Earth-like planets using next-generation spectrographs like NEID and HPF, including data-driven methods to mitigate stellar variability using Sun-as-a-star observations.
📊 Exoplanet Demographics
Measuring occurrence rates of exoplanets and the planetary systesm architectures using Bayesian methods, Approximate Bayesian Computing, and simulation-based inference.
🪐 Orbital Dynamics & Formation
Planet-planet scattering, secular evoluation of multiple planet systems, orbital migration, and planets in binary systems, and the dynamical processes that shape planetary system architectures.
📈 Astrostatistics & Astroinformatics
Bayesian inference, MCMC methods, Gaussian processes, and Approximate Bayesian Computation, and Scientific Machine Learning for improving exoplanet science.
💻 High-Performance Computing
GPU computing, parallel algorithms, and the Julia programming language for computationally intensive astrophysical problems.
🌍 Life in the Universe
Placing our Solar System in context and understanding the prospects for habitable worlds around other stars.