View source for Eric Poisson

{{Short description|Canadian physicist}}
{{Hatnote|Not to be confused with [[Simeon-Denis Poisson]].}}
{{BLP sources|date=March 2011}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name              = Eric Poisson
|image             =
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|birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1965|7|26|mf=yes}}
|birth_place       = [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]], Canada
|death_date        = 
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|residence         = 
|citizenship       = 
|nationality       = 
|ethnicity         = 
|fields            = Gravitational physics
|workplaces        = [[University of Guelph]], [[Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics]]
|alma_mater        = [[Laval University]], [[University of Alberta]]
|doctoral_advisor  = [[Werner Israel]]
|academic_advisors = 
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|notable_students  = 
|known_for         = 
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|influences        = 
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|awards            = [[Herzberg Medal]] <small>(2005)</small>
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}}
'''Eric Poisson''' (born July 26, 1965) is a [[Canadians|Canadian]] award-winning [[physicist]] specializing in the study of [[black holes]]. Poisson is a [[professor]] at the [[University of Guelph]] as well as an affiliate member of the [[Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics]], in [[Waterloo, Ontario|Waterloo]], [[Ontario]], Canada.

==Education==
He was born in [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]], and grew up in [[Rimouski]] and [[Quebec City]]. He obtained his bachelor of science degree from [[Laval University]] in Quebec City, and his Ph.D. at the [[University of Alberta]], in [[Edmonton]]. He received his doctorate in 1991 under the supervision of [[Werner Israel]].

==Research==
Poisson's doctoral dissertation was on the concept of mass inflation (not to be confused with cosmological inflation), which he pioneered with Israel.<ref name=CAP /> Prior to the understanding of mass inflation, it was believed that [[wormhole]]s into other [[universe]]s would be found inside some black holes. Mass inflation closes off these wormholes in realistic black holes.

After completing his doctorate, Poisson spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow in [[Kip Thorne|Kip Thorne's]] research group at the [[California Institute of Technology]], in [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]]. During this period, he became interested in the [[gravitational wave|gravitational-wave]] signatures that black hole systems might produce. Such signatures are crucial for the operation of gravitational-wave detectors such as [[LIGO]]. This work continued for a subsequent year spent with [[Clifford Will]] at [[Washington University in St. Louis]].

His research now focuses on gravitational self-force, which is the force on a body moving through a gravitational field arising from the mass and energy of the body itself. This self-force is expected to play a crucial role in understanding the motion of a stellar mass black hole orbiting and eventually spiraling into a [[supermassive black hole]] such as those that reside at the centers of galaxies. These astronomical systems will be of special interest to space-based gravitational wave detectors such as [[Laser Interferometer Space Antenna]]e when they are built, because they will allow precision measurements of the gravitational field of a black hole for the first time.

==Awards and honours==
*[[Herzberg Medal|Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering]], the highest honor awarded by the [[Canadian Association of Physicists]].<ref name=CAP>{{cite web|title=2005 CAP Herzberg Medal will be awarded to Dr Eric Poisson |url=http://www.cap.ca/awards/press/2005-Poisson.html |work=Canadian Association of Physicists |accessdate=25 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927165032/http://www.cap.ca/awards/press/2005-Poisson.html |archivedate=27 September 2011 }}</ref> (2005)
*Elected [[American Physical Society|Fellow of the American Physical Society]], for important contributions to the theory of gravitational radiation from compact bodies orbiting black holes, to the theory of back-reaction of the emitted radiation on their motions, and to understanding the implications for gravitational-wave detection. (2008)

==Books==
* ''A Relativist's Toolkit, The Mathematics of Black-Hole Mechanics'', Cambridge University Press (June 7, 2004). {{ISBN|978-0521830911}}.
* ''Gravity: Newtonian, Post-Newtonian, Relativistic'' (with [[Clifford M. Will]]), Cambridge University Press (May 31, 2014). {{ISBN|978-1107032866}}.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.physics.uoguelph.ca/people/eric-poisson Eric Poisson's webpage]

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[[Category:1965 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian physicists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:Scientists from Montreal]]
[[Category:Université Laval alumni]]
[[Category:Washington University in St. Louis physicists]]
[[Category:University of Alberta alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Guelph]]


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