Interpreter of big, hairy, galactic questions

Sometimes earthlings need to put their lives in perspective. This could be the job description of astrophysicist Rob Thacker. An award for work on the Black Holes and Cosmic Evolution project hangs on the wall of his office at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. Since childhood he’s been interested in such questions as: How does a galaxy form? What will be its fate?

Growing up in Suffolk, England, Thacker was intrigued by astronomy. His father, an engineer, inspired him by wondering if there was life on other planets. Later he was entranced by astronomer Carl Sagan’s TV show, Cosmos. Then, as a teenager, his interest shifted to theoretical physics and he devoured books on quantum mechanics, the Big Bang Theory, and particle physics.

In college Thacker’s interests in astronomy and physics dovetailed and he eventually took a PhD in astrophysics at the University of Alberta; his advisor there had worked with Stephen Hawking at Cambridge University. Today Thacker holds a Canada Research Chair in Computational Astrophysics.

After working on the highly abstract theory of quantum gravity, Thacker became disillusioned and wanted to work on something that could be modelled more precisely: the formation of galaxies and the structure of the cosmos. It was only in the 1930s that Edwin Hubble showed that distant nebulae were in fact other galaxies, and only in the last 15 years have supercomputers become powerful enough to model the evolution of galaxies as they condense from interstellar gas. On his laptop Thacker points out four short equations, and then the images they produce; billions of years of cosmic evolution pass by in a few seconds.

Another image rests on a background of tendrils rendered in pink. “This is the dark matter that is so embarrassing to physicists,” says Thacker. “It is the 85% of the universe we can’t explain.” Then he indicates two galaxies colliding, our own Milky Way and Andromeda. But don’t worry, this won’t happen for a few billion years.

Early in his career Thacker used his mathematical skills to work for JP Morgan, the London financial company. “The market has the power for both good and bad,” he says. “The new financial instruments are so complex that they have potential to create chaos.” He doesn’t miss that world. “I made a lot of money at JP Morgan, but I wasn’t happy. Now I feel that I am leaving a legacy with my students and my research.”