Abigail Goodhue Vieregg is a professor of physics at the Enrico Fermi Institute and Kavli Institute of Cosmology, University of Chicago,[1] specializing in neutrino astrophysics and cosmology. Her work focuses on cosmic high-energy neutrinos and mapping the cosmic microwave background.[2]

Abigail Vieregg
Other namesAbby Vieregg
Alma materDartmouth College, B.A. 2004
University of California, Los Angeles, Ph.D., 2010
AwardsPresidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, 2019
Scientific career
Fieldsphysics, cosmology, neutrino astrophysics
InstitutionsHarvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 2010 — 2013
University of Chicago, 2014 – present
ThesisThe Search for Astrophysical Ultra-High Energy Neutrinos Using Radio Detection Techniques (2010)
Websitehttps://kicp.uchicago.edu/~avieregg/ https://physics.uchicago.edu/people/profile/abigail-vieregg/

Education edit

Vieregg received a B.A. in physics from Dartmouth College in 2004, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2010.[3][1] Her Ph.D. dissertation, The Search for Astrophysical Ultra-High Energy Neutrinos Using Radio Detection Techniques,[4] focused on the detection of subatomic particles called neutrinos through radio pulses that arise from the neutrinos' interactions with matter. In it, she analyzes data from ANITA-II, the second flight of the ANITA experiment,[5] a balloon-based study of ultrahigh-energy neutrinos interacting in the Antarctic ice, and set the strongest parameter limits to date for cosmic neutrinos with energies between 1018 and 1021 electronvolts.

Professional career edit

From 2010 to 2013, Vieregg was a postdoctoral fellow[6] of the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs,[7] at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics,[3] where she continued research on the ANITA experiment, and also worked on the Keck Array polarimeter.[8] In 2014, Vieregg joined the University of Chicago faculty as assistant professor,[1] and was promoted to associate professor in 2019.[9]

Research edit

Vieregg studies ultrahigh-energy neutrinos — neutrinos with energies of more than 1018 electronvolts — that originate from beyond the Milky Way galaxy, shedding light on the nature of neutrinos and helping to home in on extragalactic sources of the particle. Vieregg is involved in a number of cosmic-neutrino experiments, including the balloon-borne ANITA experiment and the Askaryan Radio Array experiment,[10][11] which uses detectors buried in the Antarctic ice to search for signals resulting from the interaction of cosmic high-energy neutrinos. She is the principal investigator for the proposed Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observation (PUEO) experiment,[12][13][14] another Antarctic, long-duration balloon mission that would be 10 times more sensitive than ANITA,[15][16] and the Radio Neutrino Observatory (RNO) in Greenland[17][18]—a ground-based neutrino search that builds on the Askaryan Radio Array experiment.

Vieregg's research also focuses on mapping the cosmic microwave background, or CMB, the relic light from the early moments of the universe, to illuminate the universe's early history. She is involved with the South-Pole based Keck Array and BICEP3 experiments,[19] which measure CMB polarization. She is the technical coordinator and an executive member of CMB-S4,[20] which will use 21 telescopes at the South Pole and the Chilean Atacama Cosmology Telescope to survey the microwave sky.

Vieregg was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award in 2019.[2][21][22]

Awards edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Abigail Vieregg | Department of Physics | The University of Chicago". physics.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  2. ^ a b c "White House honors two UChicago scientists for innovative research". University of Chicago News. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  3. ^ a b "INSPIRE". inspirehep.net. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  4. ^ Vieregg, Abigail Goodhue (2010). The Search for Astrophysical Ultra-High Energy Neutrinos Using Radio Detection Techniques (Thesis). ProQuest 861322502.
  5. ^ "Research @ KICP | Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna, ANITA". kicp.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  6. ^ "NSF Award Search: Award#1103553 - PostDoctoral Research Fellowship". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  7. ^ "Office of Polar Programs (OPP) | NSF - National Science Foundation". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  8. ^ "AstroMcGill Podcasts - Season 2 | McGill University Astrophysics and Cosmology Group". astro.physics.mcgill.ca. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  9. ^ "Congratulations Abigail Vieregg | News | Department of Physics | The University of Chicago". physics.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  10. ^ "ARA - ARA". ara.wipac.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  11. ^ "KICP People | Abigail G. Vieregg". kicp.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  12. ^ "The Vieregg Lab". kicp.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  13. ^ "PUEO Selected by NASA for Pioneers Program | News | Department of Physics | The University of Chicago". physics.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  14. ^ Allison, P.; Alvarez-Muñiz, J.; Beatty, J. J.; Besson, D. Z.; Chen, P.; Chen, Y.; Clem, J. M.; Connolly, A.; Cremonesi, L.; Deaconu, C.; Gorham, P. W. (2021). "The Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO): A white paper". Journal of Instrumentation. 16 (8): P08035. arXiv:2010.02892. Bibcode:2021JInst..16P8035A. doi:10.1088/1748-0221/16/08/P08035. S2CID 222142356.
  15. ^ "Scientists didn't detect a parallel universe in Antarctica. But they are learning more about mysterious, ghostly neutrinos". KSLNewsRadio. 2020-05-27. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  16. ^ "The Hunt Is On for Elusive Ghost Particles in Antarctica". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  17. ^ "RNO-G | The Radio Neutrino Observatory in Greenland". radio.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  18. ^ Aguilar, J. A.; Allison, P.; Archambault, S.; Beatty, J. J.; Besson, D. Z.; Botner, O.; Buitink, S.; Chen, P.; Clark, B. A.; Connolly, A.; Deaconu, C. (2019-09-12). "The Next-Generation Radio Neutrino Observatory -- Multi-Messenger Neutrino Astrophysics at Extreme Energies". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 51 (7): 218. arXiv:1907.12526. Bibcode:2019BAAS...51g.218C.
  19. ^ "Research @ KICP | BICEP2/The Keck Array/BICEP3". kicp.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  20. ^ "CMB-S4 | Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics | The University of Chicago". kavlicosmo.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  21. ^ a b "NASA Scientists, Engineers Honored with Presidential Early Career Awards". www.spaceref.com. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  22. ^ a b NASA. "NASA Scientists, Engineers Honored with Presidential Early Career Awards". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  23. ^ "Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowships in Astrophysics for Early Career Researchers | Science Mission Directorate". science.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  24. ^ "Past Fellows". sloan.org. Archived from the original on 2018-03-14. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  25. ^ Brief History of the Shakti P. Duggal Award, Bartol Research Institute
  26. ^ Advancement, Research Corporation for Science. "Cottrell Scholar Award". Research Corporation for Science Advancement. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  27. ^ Advancement, Research Corporation for Science. "Cottrell Scholar Award" (PDF). Research Corporation for Science Advancement. Retrieved 2020-10-17.

External links edit