Freese, who holds the Jeff and Gail Kodosky Endowed Chair in Physics, works on a wide range of topics in theoretical cosmology and astroparticle physics. She has been working to identify the dark matter and dark energy that permeate the universe as well as to build a successful model for the early universe immediately after […]
Freese, Katherine; Jeff and Gail Kodosky Professor of Physics, department of physics, The University of Texas at Austin; professor, Stockholm University
Florian Kühnel and Katherine Freese studied the impact of quantum fluctuations of the scalar field driving inflation on primordial black hole formation. They calculated the power and mass spectra for a field with inflection points, and found that primordial black hole formation is significantly enhanced. Hence, the effects of quantum fluctuations need to be taken […]
A confirmation that DAMA is indeed seeing dark matter would open another gold mine of sorts. Katherine Freese, a theoretical astrophysicist at the University of Texas, first proposed the technique of searching for an annual modulation of the dark matter signal in the galactic halo in 1986. Freese says that if the DAMA signal is […]
“As wacky as this might sound, physicist Katherine Freese thought these calculations were worth doing. “This study is fun,” says Freese of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “Looking for macros in already existing detectors, such as the human body, is a good idea.” Though she wasn’t involved in the macro research, she and […]
Le stelle oscure sono oggetti che potrebbero essere esistiti nell’universo primordiale, della cui esistenza non siamo totalmente certi, che se potrebbero rappresentare una possibile risposta all’esistenza dei buchi neri supermassicci. Non vi basta? Potrebbero essere alimentate e potenziate dalla materia oscura.
The Case Western team is not the only group of researchers trying to harness new ways to detect dark matter. Freese has developed paleo-detector experiments that would be sensitive enough to detect the traces of WIMPs in ancient minerals. However, rocks could also show signals of heavier dark matter—in more obvious ways. If macros collide […]
The early universe was a very different place than it is now. But it may have been the perfect environment for a strange class of giant, puffy stars that used dark matter as fuel.
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