Erik Schnetter | Perimeter Institute

Overview

I am a staff scientist at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Canada, where I lead the Research Technologies Group.

Research Interests

My research interests lie in computational science, in using computers as tools to solve scientific problems. This requires not only correctly and efficiently implementing physics models, but also requires tools to build complete applications around these models – such as:

Tools for communicating and collaborating, in particular for small, informal collaborations, including tools for software development,
Efficient computational infrastructure, supporting hardware ranging from laptops to large high-performance computing (HPC) installations, that allow people to easily build and publish their own applications,
Reducing the steep learning curve for high-performance computing, by making HPC calculations more transparent and more interactive.

Positions Held

Adjunct Faculty, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Waterloo, 2018-present
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Physics, University of Guelph, 2011-2018
Adjunct Faculty, Center for Computation & Technology, Louisiana State University, 2010-present
Postdoctoral Scholar, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, 2003-2005

Awards

Second IEEE International Scalable Computing Challenge, 1st place, SCALE, 2009

Recent Publications

Shanmugaraj, A. P., Schnetter, E., & Koksbang, S. M. (2025). Numerical evolution of Maxwell’s equations for wavefronts propagating through a spherical gravitational potential. Physical Review D, 111(10), 104056. doi:10.1103/physrevd.111.104056
Ragula, B., de S. L. Torres, B., Schnetter, E., & Martín-Martínez, E. (2025). Localizing quantum fields with time-dependent potentials. Physical Review D, 111(10), 105029. doi:10.1103/phwh-nc9n
Shankar, S., Mösta, P., Haas, R., & Schnetter, E. (2025). 3D full-GR simulations of magnetorotational core-collapse supernovae on GPUs: A systematic study of rotation rates and magnetic fields. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2504.11537
Ji, L., Haas, R., Zlochower, Y., Brandt, S. R., Schnetter, E., & Wen, A. (2025). GPU-accelerated Subcycling Time Integration with the Einstein Toolkit. arxiv:2503.09629v1
Ragula, B., Torres, B. D. S. L., Schnetter, E., & Martín-Martínez, E. (2025). Localizing quantum fields with time-dependent potentials. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2502.02643
Dailey, C., Schnetter, E., & Afshordi, N. (2025). Formulating the complete initial boundary value problem in numerical relativity to model black hole echoes. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 42(2), 025002. doi:10.1088/1361-6382/ad9701
Kalinani, J. V., Ji, L., Ennoggi, L., Armengol, F. G. L., Sanches, L. T., Tsao, B. -J., . . . Zlochower, Y. (2025). AsterX: a new open-source GPU-accelerated GRMHD code for dynamical spacetimes. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 42(2), 025016. doi:10.1088/1361-6382/ad9c11
Curtis, S., Bosch, P., Mösta, P., Radice, D., Bernuzzi, S., Perego, A., . . . Schnetter, E. (2024). Magnetized Outflows from Short-lived Neutron Star Merger Remnants Can Produce a Blue Kilonova. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 961(1), l26. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ad0fe1
Khera, N., Metidieri, A. R., Bonga, B., Forteza, X. J., Krishnan, B., Poisson, E., . . . Yang, H. (2023). Nonlinear Ringdown at the Black Hole Horizon. Physical Review Letters, 131(23), 231401. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.131.231401
Shankar, S., Mösta, P., Brandt, S. R., Haas, R., Schnetter, E., & de Graaf, Y. (2023). GRaM-X: a new GPU-accelerated dynamical spacetime GRMHD code for Exascale computing with the Einstein Toolkit. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 40(20), 205009. doi:10.1088/1361-6382/acf2d9
Dailey, C., Afshordi, N., & Schnetter, E. (2023). Reflecting boundary conditions in numerical relativity as a model for black hole echoes. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 40(19), 195007. doi:10.1088/1361-6382/acde2f
Hammond, J., Dalcin, L., Schnetter, E., PéRache, M., Besnard, J. -B., Brown, J., . . . Zhou, H. (2023). MPI Application Binary Interface Standardization. In Proceedings of the 30th European MPI Users' Group Meeting (pp. 1-12). Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). doi:10.1145/3615318.3615319
Curtis, S., Bosch, P., Mösta, P., Radice, D., Bernuzzi, S., Perego, A., . . . Schnetter, E. (2023). Outflows from Short-Lived Neutron-Star Merger Remnants Can Produce a Blue Kilonova. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2305.07738
Schnetter, E. (2022). The Einstein Toolkit (Version ET_2022_11) [Computer Software]. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7245853
Churavy, V., Godoy, W. F., Bauer, C., Ranocha, H., Schlottke-Lakemper, M., Räss, L., . . . Edelman, A. (2022). Bridging HPC Communities through the Julia Programming Language. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2211.02740
Shankar, S., Mösta, P., Brandt, S. R., Haas, R., Schnetter, E., & de Graaf, Y. (2022). GRaM-X: A new GPU-accelerated dynamical spacetime GRMHD code for Exascale computing with the Einstein Toolkit. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2210.17509
Peters, J. M., Coley, A., & Schnetter, E. (2022). Curvature invariants in a binary black hole merger. General Relativity and Gravitation, 54(7), 65. doi:10.1007/s10714-022-02944-1

Seminars

Lecture - Numerical Methods, PHYS 777, Numerical Methods (Core), PHYS 777-, January 6 - February 5, 2025, 2025/01/31, PIRSA:25010064
Lecture - Numerical Methods, PHYS 777, Numerical Methods (Core), PHYS 777-, January 6 - February 5, 2025, 2025/01/30, PIRSA:25010063
Lecture - Numerical Methods, PHYS 777, Numerical Methods (Core), PHYS 777-, January 6 - February 5, 2025, 2025/01/28, PIRSA:25010062
Lecture - Numerical Methods, PHYS 777, Numerical Methods (Core), PHYS 777-, January 6 - February 5, 2025, 2025/01/24, PIRSA:25010061
Lecture - Numerical Methods, PHYS 777, Numerical Methods (Core), PHYS 777-, January 6 - February 5, 2025, 2025/01/23, PIRSA:25010060
Lecture - Numerical Methods, PHYS 777, Numerical Methods (Core), PHYS 777-, January 6 - February 5, 2025, 2025/01/21, PIRSA:25010059
Lecture - Numerical Methods, PHYS 777, Numerical Methods (Core), PHYS 777-, January 6 - February 5, 2025, 2025/01/17, PIRSA:25010058
Lecture - Numerical Methods, PHYS 777, Numerical Methods (Core), PHYS 777-, January 6 - February 5, 2025, 2025/01/16, PIRSA:25010057
Lecture - Numerical Methods, PHYS 777, Numerical Methods (Core), PHYS 777-, January 6 - February 5, 2025, 2025/01/14, PIRSA:25010056
Lecture - Numerical Methods, PHYS 777, Numerical Methods (Core), PHYS 777-, January 6 - February 5, 2025, 2025/01/09, PIRSA:25010055
Lecture - Numerical Methods, PHYS 777, Numerical Methods (Core), PHYS 777-, January 6 - February 5, 2025, 2025/01/07, PIRSA:25010054
Lecture - Numerical Methods, PHYS 777, Numerical Methods (Core), PHYS 777-, January 6 - February 5, 2025, 2025/01/06, PIRSA:25010053
Numerical Methods Lecture, Numerical Methods 2023/24, 2024/01/29, PIRSA:24010018
Numerical Methods Lecture, Numerical Methods 2023/24, 2024/01/22, PIRSA:24010017
Numerical Methods Lecture, Numerical Methods 2023/24, 2024/01/15, PIRSA:24010016
Numerical Methods Lecture, Numerical Methods 2023/24, 2024/01/08, PIRSA:24010015
Numerical Methods Lecture - 230207, Numerical Methods (2022/2023), 2023/02/07, PIRSA:23020001
Numerical Methods Lecture - 230202, Numerical Methods (2022/2023), 2023/02/02, PIRSA:23020000
Numerical Methods Lecture - 230201, Numerical Methods (2022/2023), 2023/02/01, PIRSA:23020003
Numerical Methods Lecture - 230131, Numerical Methods (2022/2023), 2023/01/31, PIRSA:23010008
Numerical Methods Lecture - 230126, Numerical Methods (2022/2023), 2023/01/26, PIRSA:23010007
Numerical Methods Lecture - 230124, Numerical Methods (2022/2023), 2023/01/24, PIRSA:23010006
Numerical Methods Lecture - 230120, Numerical Methods (2022/2023), 2023/01/20, PIRSA:23010011
Numerical Methods Lecture - 230119, Numerical Methods (2022/2023), 2023/01/19, PIRSA:23010005
Numerical Methods Lecture - 230117, Numerical Methods (2022/2023), 2023/01/17, PIRSA:23010004
Numerical Methods Lecture - 230112, Numerical Methods (2022/2023), 2023/01/12, PIRSA:23010003
Numerical Methods Lecture - 230111, Numerical Methods (2022/2023), 2023/01/11, PIRSA:23010009
Numerical Methods Lecture - 230110, Numerical Methods (2022/2023), 2023/01/10, PIRSA:23010002