Dr. Peter Gonthier is a professor of physics at Hope College and affiliate director of the Hope College, Michigan Space Grant Consortium.

He is a member of the American Astronomical Society (High Energy Astrophysics Division).

Areas of research

• Radio, x-ray and gamma-ray astrophysics
• Neutron stars
• Pulsars

EDUCATION

• Ph.D., nuclear chemistry, Texas A&M University, 1980
• B.A., chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, 1975

Previous positions

• Associate professor, Hope College, 1989–1999
• Interim chairperson of the Hope College Department of Physics, 1991–1992 and 2007–2008
• Guest professor, II Physikalisches Institut, Giessen, Germany, 1990–1991
• Assistant professor, Hope College, 1983–1989
• Visiting assistant professor, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, 1981–1983
• Post-doctoral fellow, Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany, 1980–1981

Selected Publications

Download full citations and a complete list of Dr. Gonthier’s publications and presentations (PDF).

• “Compton scattering in strong magnetic fields: Spin-dependent influences at the cyclotron resonance,” with M.G. Baring, M.T. Eiles, Z. Wadiasingh, C.A. Taylor and C.J. Fitch, Physical Review D, 90, 2014
• “Cooling rates for relativistic electrons undergoing Compton scattering in strong magnetic fields,” with M.G. Baring and Z. Wadiasingh, The Astrophysics Journal, 733, 2011
• “Population Synthesis of Radio and Gamma-ray Millisecond Pulsars from the Galactic Disk,” with S.A. Story and A.K. Harding, The Astrophysics Journal, 671, 2007
• “Spin-Dependent Cyclotron Decay Rates in Strong Magnetic Fields,” with M.G. Baring, and A.K. Harding, The Astrophysics Journal, 630, 2005
• “Radio-loud and radio-quiet, gamma-ray pulsars from the Galaxy and the Gould Belt,” with R. Van Guilder, A.K. Harding, I.A. Grenier and C.A. Perrot, Astrophysics and Space Science, 297, 2005
• “Role of Beam Geometry in Population Statistics and Pulse Profiles of Radio and Gamma-Ray Pulsars,” with R. Van Guilder and A.K. Harding, The Astrophysics Journal, bf 604, 2004
• “Galactic Populations of Radio and Gamma-Ray Pulsars in the Polar Cap Model,” with M.S. Ouellette, J. Berrier, S. OBrien and A.K. Harding, The Astrophysics Journal, 565, 2002
• “Compton Scattering in Ultra-Strong Magnetic Fields: Numerical and Analytical Behavior in the Relativistic Regime,” with A.K. Harding, M.G. Baring, R.M. Costello and C.L. Mercer, The Astrophysics Journal, 540, 2000
• “Photon Splitting Cascades in Gamma-Ray Pulsars and the Spectrum of PSR1509-58,” with A.K. Harding and M.G. Baring, The Astrophysics Journal, 476, 1997
• “General relativistic corrections in the gamma-ray emission from pulsars,” with A. K. Harding, The Astrophysics Journal, 425, 1994