Christopher Hirata

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Christopher "Chris" Michael Hirata (born November 30, 1982 in Ypsilanti , Michigan ) is an American cosmologist and astrophysicist.

Considered a child prodigy , Hirata was a substitute high school physics teacher at the age of 13 and won the gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad in 1996 (as the youngest American to date). He studied physics at Caltech from the age of 14 with a bachelor's degree in 2001, at the age of 16 did research for NASA on the colonization of Mars and received his doctorate in astrophysics from Princeton University (Weak Gravitational Lensing Theory and Data Analysis) in 2005 . From 2005 to 2007 he was at the Institute for Advanced Study . From 2006 to 2012 he was an assistant professor and then a full professor at Caltech and then professor at Ohio State University . He is there at the Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP).

He deals with cosmic background radiation ( Cosmic Microwave Background , CMB), dark energy and accelerated expansion of the universe, galaxy clusters and the large-scale structure of the universe (and the formation of these structures, the reionization epoch ) and gravitational lenses as tools of cosmology. Hirata works both theoretically and in the analysis of observation data and on the design of telescopes (especially the next generation of NASA space telescopes). His focus is on cosmology and the research of dark energy.

Hirata is regarded as a leading exponent of precision cosmology and combines interdisciplinary computer studies, theoretical studies and observational astronomy, including the development of instruments.

In 2010 he and Dmitriy Tseliakhovich pointed to a previously neglected effect in cosmological perturbation theory for the calculation of the formation of the first structures in the universe. It is based on the fact that the speed of sound in baryonic matter (in contrast to dark matter) decreased drastically (from relativistic to thermal velocities) when the first atoms were formed ( recombination epoch ), which leads to supersonic velocity flows of baryonic matter (which move under the gravitational influence of the faster dark matter moves) and quadratic perturbation theory terms. According to Hirata and Tseliakhovich, this leads to a suppression of the formation of the first structures with observable effects.

Together with others, he initiated an observation program that evaluates information from astronomical observation data to draw conclusions about fundamental questions in particle physics and suggests new observation programs. A central question is whether the acceleration of the universe to dark energy (retention of general relativity but with an additional dynamic scalar field) or a modification of general relativity.

He is a member of the team for NASA's planned Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST).

In 2012 he received the Presidential Early Career Award (PECASE). In 2013 he became Simons Foundation Investigator. In 2014 he won the Helen B. Warner Prize . For 2018 he received the New Horizons in Physics Prize for fundamental contributions to understanding the formation of the first galaxies in the universe and for sharpening and applying the most powerful tools in precision cosmology.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A gulag for the best , UniSpiegel 5/2001 on Caltech with a brief portrait of Hirata
  2. ↑ IAS entry on Hirata
  3. ↑ Pam Frost Gorder: New Horizons in Physics Prize goes to Ohio State scientist , Ohio State University, December 4, 2017
  4. ↑ Dmitriy Tseliakhovich, Christopher Hirata, Relative velocity of dark matter and baryonic fluids and the formation of the first structures, Phys. Rev. D, Volume 82, 2010, p. 083520, Arxiv
  5. ↑ Scott Dodelson, Katrin Heitmann, Chris Hirata, Klaus Honscheid, Aaron Roodman, Uroš Seljak, Anže Slosar, Mark Trodden Cosmic Visions Dark Energy: Science, Arxiv 2016
  6. ^ Sandi Rutkowski, Ohio State Researcher Wins Top Prize for Young Astronomers , Ohio State University on the Helen B. Warner Prize for Hirata, January 31, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Hirata, Christopher
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hirata, Christopher Michael (full name); Hirata, Chris Michael (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American cosmologist and astrophysicist
DATE OF BIRTH November 30, 1982
PLACE OF BIRTH Ypsilanti , Michigan