Thomas J. Loredo

Senior Research Associate & Lecturer

Ph.D. 1990 (University of Chicago)

620 Space Sciences Building
(607) 255-6564

I'm scientifically omnivorous; my research and teaching are interdisciplinary, mostly spanning astronomy, physics, and statistics. My research is largely in the emerging field of astrostatistics. My current teaching and advising activities are largely in statistics, bringing me in contact with data science problems in diverse areas.

In my main field of astrophysics, I like to work on the boundary of observation and theory, combining careful statistical data analysis with astrophysical theory to test models of astronomical phenomena, particularly in the areas of high energy astrophysics (supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, black holes, neutron stars), exoplanets, cosmology, and solar system astronomy. My work focuses on problems that can benefit from development of new statistical methodology, and largely adopts the Bayesian approach to statistics, which uses probability theory as a kind of calculus for inductive inference (in contrast to more conventional frequentist approach, which uses probability to describe variability in repeated experimentation). I'm particularly interested in problems where these two statistical approaches produce different results.

Two main themes of my current work are cosmic demographics (modeling cosmic populations, with careful accounting for measurement errors and selection effects), and time domain astronomy (modeling astronomical time series data).

I'm affiliated with both the Center for Astrostatistics at PSU, and the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI). I've helped organize research and educational programs in astrostatistics with both institutions.

For more details about my Bayesian astrostatistical work, visit Tom Loredo's Bayesian Reprints, or download Tom's CV for a more complete publication list. For information about my other activities and interests, visit the following web sites: