I am a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan. I use numerical simulations and sophisticated models to study both supermassive balck holes (SMBHs) and intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) with a particular emphasis on their formation, their relation to their host environments, and their gravitational waves. I am also interested in N-body simulations and astrophysical computing in general. I currently work for Douglas O. Richstone as a member of the Nuker Group. I still collaborate with my Ph.D. advisor, M. Coleman Miller.

You may also be interested in my page IMBHs for the General Public. For SMBHs, you might want to check out Horizon from BBC.

Below is relevant literature. Just because I list a paper as read, it does not mean that I endorse it or have even read it very carefully. There was a slight problem with the citation engine feed that added a bunch of papers that did not cite me. This will correct over time, but for now you can find most papers that cite me on ADS.

Coming Soon. In the meantime, please check out John Kormendy’s page on SMBHs in Galactic Nuclei.

Recent observations suggest the possibility of black holes with mass, M ~ 100 to 10,000 M_⊙ in stellar clusters. If true, this represents a class of black holes distinct from stellar-mass black holes (thought to be the result of a core collapse supernova) and supermassive black holes (found in the centers of galaxies). The formation of these intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) may also be linked to stellar-mass black hole mergers involving binary-single black hole encounters, and any IMBH in a stellar cluster is likely to undergo similar encounters. The binaries involved in these encounters are also important sources of gravitational waves detectable by Advanced LIGO and LISA. My work centers on the numerical study of three-body encounters in the astrophysical context of globular clusters. I have developed a code that can integrate post-Newtonian encounters of point-masses. This is used to simulate encounters between binary black holes and interlolping black holes. I am interested in how such encounters affect the semimajor axis and eccentricity of the binary in the high mass ratio case. The code also simulates a series of encounters that a binary would face in the core of a globular cluster until it finally merges due to gravitational radiation.

More about IMBHs.

I also, along with Zoe Leinhardt and Kevin Walsh, created a Beowulf cluster at the University of Maryland. Currently, John Vernaleo maintains the cluster. This cluster is made of Astronomy Department PCs that are primarily used for teaching and individual research purposes during the day. At night (or whenever they are unused) they become VAMPIRE (the Very Awesome Multi-Processor Interconnected Research Environment), a serial, distributed computing network. The VAMPIRE crew hope eventually to have a dedicated server named Buffy (Buffy the Vampire Server).

My previous work was in the realm of star formation and planetary origins. I worked primarily with Lee Mundy to observe with the Berkeley Illinois Maryland Association (BIMA) interferometer in Hat Creek, CA. I also worked as an undergraduate with David Koerner of the Planetary Origins Research Group (PORG).

Plus those at ADS and astro-ph that might have slipped through the cracks. Please note that when searching for my papers on ADS, you again have to search for both "Gultekin" and "Gültekin" if you want to find all of my papers. Or not. They seem to break and fix this on a regular basis. (Not to complain about an otherwise amazing service.)

1. Gultekin, K., Miller, M.C., & Hamilton, D.P. (2005), "Three-Body Dynamics with Gravitational Wave Emission," ApJ 640, 156. Local Preprint.
2. Gultekin, K., Miller, M.C., & Hamilton, D.P. (2004), "Growth of Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in Globular Clusters," ApJ, 616, 221. Preprint.
3. Gultekin, K., Miller, M.C., & Hamilton, D.P. (2003), "Three Body Encounters of Black Holes in Globular Clusters," conference proceedings of The Astrophysics of Gravitational Wave Sources held 24-26 April 2003. Preprint.
4. Gultekin, K., Miller, M.C., & Hamilton, D.P. (2002), "Three Body Interactions of Black Holes in Globular Clusters," Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 195, 05.02. Preprint.
5. Koerner, D.W., Jensen, E.L.N., Cruz, T., Guild, T.B., & Gultekin, K. (2000), "A Single Circumbinary Disk in the HD 98800 Quadruple System," Astrophysical Journal, 533, L37. Preprint.
6. Koerner, D.W., Jensen, E.L.N., Cruz, K., Guild, T.B., & Gultekin, K. (2000), "A Single Circumbinary Disk in the HD 98800 Quadruple System," Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 195, 25.02. Preprint.
7. Gultekin, K., Koerner, D.W., & Ressler, M.E. (1999), "A Circumstellar Disk around the High-Mass Protostar L1206A," Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 193, 72.07. Preprint.

1. September 21, 2006 "Growing Intermediate-Mass Black Holes with Gravitational Waves," Extra-Galactic Astronomy Seminar, University of Texas, Austin
2. July 27, 2006 "Growing Black Holes in Globular Clusters," Galactic Nuclei Workshop, Lorentz Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
3. January 10, 2006 "Three-Body Interactions of Black Holes with Gravitational Wave Emission," 2006 AAS Winter Meeting, Washington, DC
4. September 14, 2005 "Growth of Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in Globular Clusters and their Gravitational Waves," Space Sciences Seminar, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
5. December 6, 2004 "Making IMBHs and Gravitational Waves in Globular Clusters," Astronomy Seminar, Caltech, Pasadena, CA
6. November 16, 2004 "The Role of Three-Body Encounters in IMBH Formation," Center for Astrophysical Sciences Seminar, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
7. October 20, 2004 "From Newtonian Dynamics to Gravitational Waves," University of Pennsylvania Astrophysics Seminar, Philadelphia, PA
8. October 19, 2004 "Growing IMBHs in Globular Clusters," University of Virginia and NRAO Seminar, Charlottesville, VA
9. October 15, 2004 "The Role of Three-Body Dynamics in IMBH Formation and their Gravitational Waves," LHEA Seminar, GSFC, Greenbelt, MD
10. September 15, 2003 "Black Hole Dynamics of Interest to LISA," LISA Sources and Data Analysis Meeting, GSFC, Greenbelt, MD
11. April 10, 2003 Condor and VAMPIRE talk at Linux Administrators Meeting
12. March 3, 2003 Penn State Astronomy Seminar
13. February 25, 2003 Condor Talk to UMD AMSC Class
14. February 14, 2003 Thesis Proposal Defense
15. December 6, 2003 Dynamics Group Meeting Talk
16. October 4, 2002 Astronomy Lunch-Time Seminar on VAMPIRE

• Govert Schilling wrote a nice little article in Science about work I have done with my collaborators.