Katherine Freese

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name = Katherine Freese


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Dr. Katherine Freese, a theoretical astrophysicist, is a Professor of Physics at the University of Michigan and Associate Director of the Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics. She is known for her work in theoretical cosmology at the interface of particle physics and astrophysics.

Education and Academic Career

Dr. Freese received her BA from Princeton University and her PhD in 1984 at the University of Chicago. After postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard University, at the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, and as a Presidential Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, she became an Assistant Professor at MIT in 1988. She moved to the University of Michigan in 1991.

Contributions

Dr. Freese has been an early force in dark matter and dark energy science. She was one of the first to propose ways to discover dark matter.face Her idea of indirect detection in the Earth is being pursued by the ICECUBE experiment,Fact|date=August 2008 and the "wind" of dark matter particles felt as the Earth orbits the Milky Way (work with David Spergel is being searched for in worldwide experiments. Her work decisively ruled out MACHO (Massive compact halo object) dark matter in favor of WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles) [James Glanz, New York Times, Feb. 2000, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E6D91539F93AA15751C0A9669C8B63] , "In the Dark Matter Wars, WIMPs beat MACHOs",] . She has proposed a model known as "Cardassian expansion," in which dark energy is replaced with a modification of Einstein's equations. [Dennis Overbye, New York Times, Nov. 2003, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D05EED61139F932A25752C1A9659C8B63] , "What is Gravity, Really?"] . Recently she discovered a new theoretical type of star, called a dark star, powered by dark matter annihilation rather than fusion.

Freese has also worked on the beginnings of the Universe, including the search for a successful inflationary theory to kick off the Big Bang. She has studied the Ultimate fate of the universe, including the fate of life in the universe. To quote New Scientist: "Katherine Freese and William Kinney don't look much like superheroes, but this pair of astrophysicists may just have rescued all life in the Universe [Philip Ball, [http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17523545.900-never-say-die.html] , "Never Say Die", New Scientist, Aug. 2002] ."

Dr. Freese has served on the Board of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara and the Board of the Aspen Center for Theoretical Physics. Currently she is Councilor of the American Physical Society and member of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (AAAC).

References