Paul L. Schechter
Paul L. Schechter (born May 30, 1948 in the Bronx , New York City ) is an American astrophysicist, observing optical astronomer and cosmologist.
Schechter graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor's degree in 1968 and received his PhD from Caltech in 1974 . As a post-doctoral student he was at the Institute for Advanced Study (1974/75) and at the University of Arizona (Stewart Observatory). He was an Assistant Professor at Harvard University and from 1988 Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( William A. Burden Professor of Astrophysics). He was also employed at Kitt Peak National Observatory and Carnegie Observatories .
In the 1970s he empirically introduced a distribution function of the luminosity of objects such as stars or galaxies in clusters, with a power distribution for small luminosities and exponential truncation for greater luminosities (luminosity function by Schechter). This later found an explanation in the Press-Scheuchter formalism, which he developed with William H. Press . He investigates galaxies and galaxy clusters and the distribution of dark matter in them, analyzed the movement of the local group to the Virgo galaxy cluster and examined gravitational lenses with the resulting matter distributions. He was also instrumental in the development of the active optics of Magellan's telescopes .
He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2003) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2017).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Membership Book IAS 1980
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schechter, Paul |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American astrophysicist and astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 30, 1948 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bronx |