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| bjain -at- physics.upenn.edu | |
| phone | (215) 573-5330 |
| fax | (215) 898-2010 |
| lab phone | - - - |
| room | 4N10, David Rittenhouse Laboratory |
| links | Astrophysics Group Particle-Cosmology Center Papers on astro-ph arXiv Refereed papers on ADS |
| degree | Ph.D., MIT (1994) A.B., Physics (High Honors), Princeton University (1989) |
| keywords | Astrophysics and Cosmology |
| overview | Research Interests
My research area is cosmology and gravitational lensing. I am interested in understanding how small fluctuations in the early universe grew to form the large-scale structure observed today. This process is tied to nonlinear gravitational clustering and the nature of dark matter and dark energy. Gravitational lensing, the shearing and magnification of light we receive from distant galaxies, is a powerful probe of these cosmological puzzles. I work in weak lensing: the small, percent level distortions in the shapes of distant galaxies. With weak lensing, we can map the mass distribution of galaxy clusters and the large-scale structure of the universe. The properties of galaxies and their connection to the ambient dark matter is probed by imaging surveys of galaxies. These massive surveys are transforming our understanding of the universe. I have worked on measurements from current surveys and am actively involved in the design and planning of these next generation surveys: Recently I have also become involved in observations of galaxy clusters via the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and using optical telescopes such as the Blanco Cosmology Survey. Lensing and Cosmology at Penn I collaborate with my colleagues Mike Jarvis, Gary Bernstein, Mark Devlin and Ravi Sheth. Masahiro Takada, who was a Penn postdoc, is now faculty at IMPU (U. Tokyo) and a regular visitor and collaborator. I advise (or co-advise with my colleagues): Graduate students: Alex Borisov, Michelle Caler, Tsz-Yan Lam Postdocs: Jacek Guzik, Marcos Lima, Hans Stabenau, Tao Qian Teaching Spring 2008: Astro 12: Introduction to Astronomy, Part II (Undergraduate) With Harrison Prentice-Mott, a junior at Penn, and my colleague Mark Devlin, I built a table-top experiment that uses custom-built optical
lenses to explore gravitational lensing. Now in the lobby of the Physics Department and a must-see on your next visit to Philadelphia. |
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