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Stefan Funk | |
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| Born | Heidelberg, Germany |
| Alma mater | Heidelberg University (PhD) |
| Awards | Shakti P. Duggal Award Bruno Rossi Prize |
Stefan Funk (born in Heidelberg in 1974) is a German astroparticle physicist. He is a professor at the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics [1] at the FAU Erlangen-Nuernberg in Germany and an elected a fellow of the American Physical Society. [2]
Stefan Funk studied physics at the Humboldt University of Berlin from 1996 to 2002. Subsequently, he worked as a PhD student in the gamma-ray astrophysics group of Werner Hofmann at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physic (MPIK) in Heidelberg, where he received his PhD from Heidelberg University in 2005. The work of his doctoral thesis is the commissioning and characterisation of the central trigger system of the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) gamma-ray telescopes and the survey of the Galactic plane with H.E.S.S. at TeV energies. [3]
From 2006 to 2007 Funk worked at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, California, US as a postdoctoral researcher on GLAST (later Fermi-LAT), a NASA satellite that was launched on June 11, 2008, working with Roger Blandford, Elliott Bloom and Persis Drell. In 2007, he became an assistant professor in the Physics department at Stanford University and the SLAC National accelerator center. During that time, Funk was a group leader in the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology working on high-energy astrophysics with the Fermi-LAT satellite.
He returned to Germany in 2014 to work at the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP) at FAU Erlangen-Nuernberg. Scientifically, he continued his work on H.E.S.S. and the Fermi-LAT, but also focussed more on research and development for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). His group is developing camera electronics for CTA and he is also involved in the scientific preparation of the observatory. [4]
Stefan Funk's area of research [5] is high energy astrophysics and astroparticle physics, in particular the search for the origin of cosmic rays using gamma rays and the understanding of the particle nature of dark matter. Funk is also involved in projects in laboratory astrophysics where astrophysical processes are reproduced in laboratory settings and in topics in astro quantum optics, such as super-high angular resolution optical intensity interferometry.
Funk is a recipient of IUPAP's 2009 Shakti P. Duggal Award to recognise outstanding work by a young scientist in the field of cosmic ray physics. [6] In 2010, he received the Bruno Rossi Prize from the American Astronomical Society with the H.E.S.S. team, and in 2011 with the Fermi-LAT team. [7] He is a Thomson Reuters highly cited researcher in 2015 and 2016, [8] [9] and was elected as an APS Fellow in 2016. [2]
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The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, formerly called the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), is a space observatory being used to perform gamma-ray astronomy observations from low Earth orbit. Its main instrument is the Large Area Telescope (LAT), with which astronomers mostly intend to perform an all-sky survey studying astrophysical and cosmological phenomena such as active galactic nuclei, pulsars, other high-energy sources and dark matter. Another instrument aboard Fermi, the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor, is being used to study gamma-ray bursts and solar flares.
MAGIC is a system of two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes situated at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, at about 2200 m above sea level. MAGIC detects particle showers released by gamma rays, using the Cherenkov radiation, i.e., faint light radiated by the charged particles in the showers. With a diameter of 17 meters for the reflecting surface, it was the largest in the world before the construction of H.E.S.S. II.
The Bruno Rossi Prize is awarded annually by the High Energy Astrophysics division of the American Astronomical Society "for a significant contribution to High Energy Astrophysics, with particular emphasis on recent, original work". Named after astrophysicist Bruno Rossi, the prize is awarded with a certificate and a gift of USD $500, and was first awarded in 1985 to William R. Forman and Christine Jones Forman "for pioneering work in the study of X-ray emission from early type galaxies". It has been awarded 40 times. In 2010, the prize was awarded to William B. Atwood, Peter Michelson and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope team "for enabling, through the development of the Large Area Telescope, new insights into neutron stars, supernova remnants, cosmic rays, binary systems, active galactic nuclei, and gamma-ray bursts". In 2013, the prize was awarded to Roger W. Romani of Leland Stanford Junior University and Alice Harding of Goddard Space Flight Center for their work in developing the theoretical framework underpinning the many exciting pulsar results from Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
The Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik is a research institute in Heidelberg, Germany.
IACT stands for imaging atmosphericCherenkov telescope or technique. It is a device or method to detect very-high-energy gamma ray photons in the photon energy range of 50 GeV to 50 TeV.
VERITAS is a major ground-based gamma-ray observatory with an array of four 12 meter optical reflectors for gamma-ray astronomy in the GeV – TeV photon energy range. VERITAS uses the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope technique to observe gamma rays that cause particle showers in Earth's atmosphere that are known as extensive air showers. The VERITAS array is located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, in southern Arizona, United States. The VERITAS reflector design is similar to the earlier Whipple 10-meter gamma-ray telescope, located at the same site, but is larger in size and has a longer focal length for better control of optical aberrations. VERITAS consists of an array of imaging telescopes deployed to view atmospheric Cherenkov showers from multiple locations to give the highest sensitivity in the 100 GeV – 10 TeV band. This very high energy observatory, completed in 2007, effectively complements the Large Area Telescope (LAT) of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope due to its larger collection area as well as coverage in a higher energy band.
Astroparticle physics, also called particle astrophysics, is a branch of particle physics that studies elementary particles of astronomical origin and their relation to astrophysics and cosmology. It is a relatively new field of research emerging at the intersection of particle physics, astronomy, astrophysics, detector physics, relativity, solid state physics, and cosmology. Partly motivated by the discovery of neutrino oscillation, the field has undergone rapid development, both theoretically and experimentally, since the early 2000s.
ASPERA is a network of national government agencies responsible for coordinating and funding national research efforts in astroparticle physics.
The Cherenkov Telescope Array, or CTA, is a multinational, worldwide project to build a new generation of ground-based gamma-ray instruments in the energy range extending from some tens of GeV to about 300 TeV. It is proposed as an open observatory and will consist of two arrays of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACT), a first array at the Northern Hemisphere with emphasis on the study of extragalactic objects at the lowest possible energies, and a second array at the Southern Hemisphere, which is to cover the full energy range and concentrate on galactic sources. The physics program of CTA goes beyond high-energy astrophysics into cosmology and fundamental physics.
Gisela Anton is a German experimental particle and astroparticle physicist. She was awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 1994. Since 1995, she is a professor and Chair of Experimental Physics at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg.
Gamma-ray astronomy is the astronomical observation of gamma rays, the most energetic form of electromagnetic radiation, with photon energies above 100 keV. Radiation below 100 keV is classified as X-rays and is the subject of X-ray astronomy.
The High Altitude Water Cherenkov Experiment or High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory is a gamma-ray and cosmic ray observatory located on the flanks of the Sierra Negra volcano in the Mexican state of Puebla at an altitude of 4100 meters, at 18°59′41″N97°18′30.6″W. HAWC is the successor to the Milagro gamma-ray observatory in New Mexico, which was also a gamma-ray observatory based around the principle of detecting gamma-rays indirectly using the water Cherenkov method.
Multi-messenger astronomy is astronomy based on the coordinated observation and interpretation of signals carried by disparate "messengers": electromagnetic radiation, gravitational waves, neutrinos, and cosmic rays. They are created by different astrophysical processes, and thus reveal different information about their sources.
Felix A. Aharonian is a physicist and astrophysicist. He is a recognized authority on the origin of cosmic rays, and has written books and research papers on astroparticle physics, and cosmology.
Angela Villela Olinto is provost of Columbia University and an astroparticle physicist. Previously, she served as the Albert A. Michelson Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago as well as the dean of the Physical Sciences Division. Her current work is focused on understanding the origin of high-energy cosmic rays, gamma rays, and neutrinos.
Elizabeth Anne Hays is an American astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where she is chief of the Astroparticle Physics Laboratory and the project scientist for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Her research has included gamma-ray astronomy of the Crab Nebula, novae, and gamma-ray bursts.
Alessandro De Angelis is an Italian and Argentine physicist and astrophysicist. A Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Padova and Professor Catedratico of Astroparticle Physics at IST Lisboa, he is mostly known for his role in the proposal, construction and data analysis of new telescopes for gamma-ray astrophysics. He is a member of Istituto nazionale di fisica nucleare (INFN), Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF), Italian Physical Society (SIF), International Astronomical Union (IAU), Gruppo2003.
Rene Ashwin Ong is an American astrophysicist known for his work in experimental high-energy astrophysics, astroparticle physics, and particle physics. He is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Anna Barnacka is a Polish astrophysicist and entrepreneur. She is known for her work on gravitational lensing, and astroparticle physics.
Mary Paula Chadwick is a British physicist who is professor and head of the Department of Physics at Durham University. Her research investigates gamma-ray astronomy and astroparticle physics. She is involved with the Cherenkov Telescope Array.
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