Karsten Danzmann

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Karsten Danzmann (2016)

Karsten Danzmann (born February 6, 1955 in Rotenburg (Wümme) ) is a German physicist who deals with the detection of gravitational waves and the development of the laser technologies required for them .

Live and act

Danzmann studied physics from 1973 to 1977 at the TU Clausthal ( diploma ) and the Technical University of Hanover , where he received his doctorate in 1980 . From 1978 he was a research assistant at the Institute for Plasma Physics in Hanover, from 1982 DFG guest scientist at Stanford University . From 1983 to 1986 he worked at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Berlin . From 1986 to 1990 he was an assistant professor at Stanford and then until 1993 project manager in the special research area for gravitational wave detectors at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching . From 1993 he was professor at the Technical University of Hanover and there director of the Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics (renamed Institute for Gravitational Physics from 2005 ), and from 1994 at the same time head of the branch of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Hanover. From 2002 the branch in Hanover became part of the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), where Danzmann was appointed director. There he heads the laser interferometry and gravitational wave astronomy department .

In Hanover, he has been leading the project of the German-British gravitational wave detector GEO600 in Ruthe near Sarstedt since the 1990s . It was created for the detection of gravitational waves by means of laser interferometry and was also used to develop the technology for the LIGO detectors. He is considered the “spiritual father and driving pioneer” of the LISA satellite mission and is in charge of its development on the European side.

Researchers from Danzmann's Institute in Hanover (Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics) made the first observation of a gravitational wave on the morning of September 14, 2015 (CEST), which was measured by detectors at the LIGO observatory. The LIGO collaboration only announced the observation in February 2016 after a detailed data analysis, as they wanted to avoid a success report that was later withdrawn, such as with BICEP .

Awards and memberships

In 1991 Karsten Danzmann received the Max Planck Research Award together with James Hough , Glasgow University . For his important contribution to the discovery of gravitational waves, he received the Lower Saxony State Prize in 2016 with Bruce Allen and Alessandra Buonanno . Danzmann was recognized for driving the development and operation of the extremely sensitive detectors that enabled the direct observation of gravitational waves in the LIGO collaboration. In 2016 Danzmann was awarded the Lower Saxony Science Prize and the Fritz Behrens Foundation Science Prize. In 2017 Danzmann received the Körber Prize for European Science and the Otto Hahn Prize . For 2018 he was awarded the Stern-Gerlach-Medal , the Edison-Volta-Prize and the Braunschweig Research Prize.

Danzmann is a member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz . He is also a member of the Academy of Sciences in Hamburg and became a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2009 .

literature

  • Vibrations in space-time: Karsten Danzmann, Hanover Branch of the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Golm. In: Max Planck Society: Yearbook 2003. Saur, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-598-24930-6 , pp. 75-76. (Article about Danzmann)

Web links

Commons : Karsten Danzmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Aufmuth, Karsten Danzmann: Prelude to the concert of the stars. Geo 600 starts looking for gravitational waves . In: Physik Journal , Vol. 1 (2002), Issue 1, pp. 33-38, ISSN  1617-9439
  2. ↑ Otto Hahn Prize 2017 goes to gravitational wave researcher Karsten Danzmann . Joint press release by the City of Frankfurt am Main, the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker e. V. (GDCh) and the German Physical Society e. V. (DPG) of July 13, 2017
  3. ↑ Roman Schnabel, Gerhard Heinzel, Harald Lück, Benno Willke, Karsten Danzmann: Fishing waves out of the noise. State-of-the-art physics in use; future telescopes for gravitational wave astronomy . In: Physik Journal , vol. 8 (2009), issue 9, p. 33, ISSN  1617-9439 .
  4. ↑ Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics: Gravitational waves discovered 100 years after Einstein's prediction. February 11, 2016, accessed October 4, 2017 .
  5. ↑ The Lower Saxony State Prize ( Memento of the original from September 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.niedersachsen.de
  6. ^ State award for three wave researchers in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from June 1, 2016, p. 13.
  7. ↑ Gravitational wave discoverer receives award in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from November 17, 2016
  8. ↑ Minister Heinen-Kljajić awards Lower Saxony Science Prize 2016 Press release from the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture of November 17, 2016
  9. ↑ Science prizes for Karsten Danzmann and Kai Sina: Fritz Behrens Foundation honors researchers with 30,000 euros each: Volkswagen Foundation. (No longer available online.) In: volkswagenstiftung.de. September 14, 2015, archived from the original on December 1, 2016 ; accessed November 30, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.volkswagenstiftung.de
  10. ↑ Karsten Danzmann receives the Körber European Science 2017 Albert Einstein Institute on May 31, 2017
  11. ↑ Andreas Stiller: Gravitational waves and the "Rule of Three" of the Nobel Prize. Heise online , October 1, 2017, accessed on October 2, 2017 .
  12. ↑ Martin Holland: "Trailblazer for the Discovery of Gravitational Waves" receives Otto Hahn Prize from Heise online on November 2nd, 2017
  13. ^ Member entry by Karsten Danzmann at the Academy of Sciences and Literature, accessed on October 11, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Danzmann, Karsten
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physicist
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Rotenburg (Wümme)