Peter Istvan Mészáros

Director, Center for Particle and Gravitational Astrophysics; Eberly Chair of Astronomy and Astrophysics; Professor of Physics. Contributions to high-energy astrophysics. Identified physics that determine scale-dependence of structures in present-day universe (known as the Meszaros effect). Introduced processes crucial in advection-dominated flows. Studied physics of magnetized neutron stars, as detailed in monograph, High Energy Radiation from Magnetized Neutron Stars (1992). Predicted that gamma-ray bursts would exhibit X-ray and optical afterglows-a model through which observations of burst afterglows are interpreted. Work recognized by the Bruno Rossi Prize of the American Astronomical Society (2000). Wrote the book The High Energy Universe (2010). Elected external member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2010), and Einstein Professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2013),