Marica Branchesi
Marica Branchesi (Urbino, March 7, 1977) is an Italian astrophysicist. Her leadership and scientific work was pivotal for Virgo/LIGO's discovery of gravitational waves.[1] She is vice president of International Astronomical Union Gravitational Wave Astrophysics Commission and member of the Gravitational Wave International Committee.[2]
Education
Branchesi completed her undergraduate degree in astronomy in 2002, and obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Bologna in 2006, with a focus in radio astronomy, black holes and clusters of galaxies.[3] She then moved to the California Institute of Technology, where she met her husband, Jan Harms, German physicist and gravitational waves expert.[4]
Research
After being awarded a grant by
Notably, she was named one of Nature's "Ten people who mattered this year" for her work as liaison between LIGO and Virgo in the gravitational wave collaboration. She served as a link between the physicists and astronomers, and encouraged both groups to take tentative detections more seriously and coordinated telescopes to follow up on events as soon as they were discovered.[8]
Her current interests lie in understanding the nature of black holes and neutron stars, namely what governs their emission, formation and evolution. With her research, she aims to develop multi-messenger astronomy that uses electromagnetic and gravitational waves to probe the most energetic phenomena in the universe.[9]
Awards
- 2016 - Breakthrough Prize[10] to Ligo/Virgo project for detection of gravitational waves 100 years after Albert Einstein predicted their existence.[11]
- 2017 - “Ten people who mattered this year” of Nature.[8]
- 2018 - "TIME 100 most influential people"[12]
Works
- Branchesi, Marica; Collaboration, Ligo Scientific; Collaboration, Virgo (2012). "Electromagnetic follow-up of gravitational wave transient signal candidates". Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 375 (6): 062004. S2CID 119114529.
- Ziosi, Brunetto Marco; Mapelli, Michela; Branchesi, Marica; Tormen, Giuseppe (2014-07-11). "Dynamics of stellar black holes in young star clusters with different metallicities – II. Black hole–black hole binaries". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 441 (4): 3703–3717. ISSN 0035-8711.
- Patricelli, B.; Razzano, M.; Cella, G.; Fidecaro, F.; Pian, E.; Branchesi, M.; Stamerra, A. (2016). "Prospects for joint observations of gravitational waves and gamma rays from merging neutron star binaries". Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. 2016 (11): 056. S2CID 119205530.
- Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P. (2016-02-11). "Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger". Physical Review Letters. 116 (6): 061102. S2CID 119286014.
- Branchesi, Marica (2016). "Multi-messenger astronomy: gravitational waves, neutrinos, photons, and cosmic rays". Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 718 (2): 022004. ISSN 1742-6596.
See also
References
- ^ "Marica Branchesi: The World's 100 Most Influential People". Time. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
- ^ "International Astronomical Union | IAU". www.iau.org. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
- ^ "L'Aquila, la prof Marica Branchesi tra i grandi della scienza". Il Centro (in Italian). Retrieved 2017-12-28.
- ^ "Marica e Jan, astronoma e fisico 'a caccia di onde'. La coppia che ha scelto Urbino per la ricerca". il Ducato (in Italian). 2016-02-10. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
- ^ "L'Italia deve investire di più sulla scienza, è la nostra scommessa per il futuro". Repubblica.it (in Italian). 2017-12-19. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
- ^ "Gentiloni proud of astrophysicist in Nature's Top Ten (3) - English Service". ANSA.it. 2017-12-19. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
- ^ "NSF ANNOUNCES NEW GRAVITATIONAL WAVE FINDINGS, Oct 16, 2017, DC, 10:00-12:30 ET (webcast)". spacepolicyonline.com. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
- ^ a b "Nature's 10". Retrieved 2017-12-28.
- ^ "BRANCHESI Marica". Retrieved 2018-07-26.
- ^ "Breakthrough Prize – Special Breakthrough Prize In Fundamental Physics Awarded For Detection Of Gravitational Waves 100 Years After Albert Einstein Predicted Their Existence". breakthroughprize.org. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
- ^ Malaspina, Marco. "Un'onda da tre milioni di dollari". MEDIA INAF (in Italian). Retrieved 2017-12-28.
- ^ "Marica Branchesi: The World's 100 Most Influential People". Time. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
External links
- Marica Branchesi at Gran Sasso Science Institute
- Marica Branchesi at International Astronomical Union
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