Ramesh Narayan

Theoretical astrophysicist Ramesh Narayan is the Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor emeritus of the Natural Sciences in the Astronomy Department, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Harvard University. He is a broad-spectrum theorist with a particular interest in compact objects. His research spans a range of topics in high-energy astrophysics, including both black holes and neutron stars, spanning Galactic and extragalactic objects, and electromagnetic bands from radio to gamma-rays.

His work on radiatively inefficient accretion flows has revolutionized our understanding of accretion onto compact objects, and may resolve the fundamental problem of why most nearby black holes are dark despite the presence of ample fuel. He has made fundamental contributions to understanding gamma-ray bursts, pulsar demography, image reconstruction, accretion discs, gravitational lenses, interstellar scintillation and other subjects.

Previously, he was on the faculty at the University of Arizona. He received a Ph.D. in Physics (1979) from Bangalore University, India. He is a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the Royal Society (London), a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, and an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences.