Manos Chatzopoulos
Associate Professor Louisiana State University
- Baton Rouge LA
Dr. Chatzopoulos is a computational astrophysicist specializing in large-scale simulations of supernovae and the evolution of massive stars.
Areas of Expertise
Research Focus
Theoretical & Computational Astrophysics
Dr. Chatzopoulos’s research focuses on theoretical and computational astrophysics—massive-star evolution, core-collapse and superluminous supernovae, and other high-energy transients. He leverages stellar-evolution codes, hydrodynamic and radiative-transfer simulations, and multi-messenger observations to decode explosion mechanisms and chart how these events forge the universe’s heavy elements.
Answers
- What are scientists still trying to uncover about the death of massive stars and the birth of black holes or neutron stars?
Scientists are still trying to fully understand what really happens when massive stars die—why some collapse quietly into black holes, while others explode as spectacular supernovae leaving behind neutron stars. In my work, I run 3D computer simulations of these explosions and model the light they produce, the signals we can detect from Earth. This helps us uncover the mechanisms that power the blasts, the elements they create, and even how stars shed mass in the years before they die. That lost material surrounds the star and can shape how bright the explosion looks. Decoding this “post-mortem” record is key to understanding the life and evolution of massive stars.
Education
University of Crete
B.S.
Physics
2007
The University of Texas at Austin
M.A.
Astronomy
2010
The University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
2013
Accomplishments
U.S. D.O.E. Early Career Award
2020
Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Work (BREW) Champion
2022
LSU Rainmaker Award
2022
Media Appearances
Talking Business: Meet the astrophysicist who is working to make parking easier
The Advocate online
2023-10-02
Manos Chatzopoulos has been called “a rising star” in the field of astrophysics, specializing in using supercomputer simulations to understand events such as supernovas and stellar evolution. But on the side, the LSU professor is using his skills in data analysis for something more down to earth — making it easier to find a place to park.
These Louisiana venture capitalists, armed with federal money, are racing to invest in startups.
NOLA online
2024-09-12
LSU astrophysicist Manos Chatzopoulos just wanted a place to park.
A decade ago, as a postdoctoral fellow in Chicago, he would circle his neighborhood trying to find a spot, only to have to walk several blocks home in the bitter cold.
The problem sparked an idea. In 2020, while working as an LSU professor, Chatzopoulos joined forces with an LSU computer science student and the school to create ParkZen, an app that uses crowdsourced data to help drivers find available parking spaces.
An LSU astrophysics professor invented a tool to find parking. It just sold in a major deal.
NOLA online
2025-04-28
“This is a huge opportunity for us," ParkZen co-founder Manos Chatzopoulos said Tuesday by phone while attending an industry trade show. "I've been getting congratulations from people in the industry all morning."
Articles
Betelgeuse: a review
Astronomy & Geophysics2023
Was Betelgeuse once in a binary star system? What causes it to vary over a vast range of timescales? Why did it dim dramatically in 2020? When and how will it explode? J. Craig Wheeler and Manos Chatzopoulos present a host of challenges to both observers and theorists.
Monte Carlo Radiation Transport for Astrophysical Transients Powered by Circumstellar Interaction
The Astrophysical Journal2023
In this paper, we introduce SuperLite, an open-source Monte Carlo radiation transport code designed to produce synthetic spectra for astrophysical transient phenomena affected by circumstellar interaction. SuperLite utilizes Monte Carlo methods for semi-implicit, semirelativistic radiation transport in high-velocity shocked outflows, employing multigroup structured opacity calculations. The code enables rapid post-processing of hydrodynamic profiles to generate high-quality spectra that can be compared with observations of transient events, including superluminous supernovae, pulsational pair-instability supernovae, and other peculiar transients. We present the methods employed in SuperLite and compare the code's performance to that of other radiative transport codes, such as SuperNu and CMFGEN.
Betelgeuse as a Merger of a Massive Star with a Companion
The Astrophysical Journal2024
We investigate the merger between a 16M⊙ star, on its way to becoming a red supergiant (RSG), and a 4M⊙ main-sequence companion. Our study employs three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations using the state-of-the-art adaptive mesh refinement code O cto-T iger. The initially corotating binary undergoes interaction and mass transfer, resulting in the accumulation of mass around the companion and its subsequent loss through the second Lagrangian point (L2). The companion eventually plunges into the envelope of the primary, leading to its spin-up and subsequent merger with the helium core. We examine the internal structural properties of the post-merger star, as well as the merger environment and the outflow driven by the merger. Our findings reveal the ejection of approximately∼ 0.6 M⊙ of material in an asymmetric and somewhat bipolar outflow.
Evidence for Evolved Stellar Binary Mergers in Observed B-type Blue Supergiants
The Astrophysical Journal Letters2024
Blue supergiants are the brightest stars in their host galaxies, and yet their evolutionary status has been a long-standing problem in stellar astrophysics. In this pioneering work, we present a large sample of 59 early B-type supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud with newly derived stellar parameters and identify the signatures of stars born from binary mergers among them. We simulate novel 1D merger models of binaries consisting of post main-sequence giants with helium-rich cores (primaries) and main-sequence companions (secondaries), and consider the effects of interaction of the secondary with the core of the primary along with the mixing induced by the merger in the envelope.
Spectroscopic Modeling of Luminous Transients Powered by H-rich and He-rich Circumstellar Interaction
The Astrophysical Journal2024
In this study, we perform detailed spectroscopic modeling to analyze the interaction of circumstellar material (CSM) with ejecta in both hydrogen-rich and hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe), by systematically varying properties such as the CSM density, composition, and geometry to explore their effects on spectral lines and light-curve evolution. Using advanced radiative transfer simulations with the new, open-source SuperLite code to generate synthetic spectra, we identify key spectroscopic indicators of CSM characteristics. Our findings demonstrate that spectral lines of hydrogen and helium exhibit significant variations due to differences in CSM mass and composition. In hydrogen-rich Type II SLSNe, we observe pronounced hydrogen emission lines that correlate strongly with a dense, extended CSM, suggesting massive, eruptive mass-loss histories.
Affiliations
- American Astronomical Society (AAS)
- Hellenic Astronomica Society (HelAS)
Media
