Associate Professor
Dept. of
Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences,
and
JILA
University
of Colorado, Boulder.
CV : cv.pdf
PUBLICATIONS (ADS link): Full List
Rosalba Perna
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Associate Professor
CV : cv.pdf PUBLICATIONS (ADS link): Full List |
HIGH ENERGY- research topics include:
Gamma-ray Bursts, and in
particular the effects that the X-ray/UV radiation accompanying them
produce on their surrounding gas. This has led to the
development of a radiative transfer code that can
self-consistently track gas photoionization and dust
destruction by the burst radiation.
Other interests concern the
physics of accretion disks accreting at very high rates and
cooling through neutrino emission. These are believed to provide the
ultimate source of power for GRBs.
Since the launch of the
Swift satellite, I have also been working towards understanding the
origin of puzzling and unexpected phenomena, such as the presence of
X-ray flares in the early afterglow lightcurves.
Within the
context of short GRBs, my research has focused on making a
connection between the theoretical predictions for the mergers of
two compact objects (neutron star-neutron star and neutron
star-black hole), and the observable properties of the resulting
GRBs.
Neutron Stars, with particular emphasis on Anomalous X-ray Pulsars and Soft Gamma-Ray Repeaters, a subclass of neutron stars thought to be endowed with very large magnetic fields (and also dubbed "magnetars"). Other interests involve isolated, old neutron stars accreting from the interstellar medium, the connection between pulsars and HI supershells, the spin periods of neutron stars at birth, and the timing behaviour of accreting X-ray Binaries.
COSMOLOGY - research topics include:
Gravitational Lensing and Microlensing, the latter with focus on microlensing by stars in binaries.
Interstellar Medium (ISM), and in particular the use of Gamma-Ray Bursts as probes of the ISM in high-redshift galaxies.
Foregrounds
for measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background and for 21-cm
experiments. Particular focus has been on the contaminating signal
from the radio-emitting centers of nearby, early-type galaxies.
EXOPLANETS - research topics include:
Magnetohydrodynamic interactions in the atmospheres of hot Jupiters.
ASTR 5120 RADIATIVE AND DYNAMICAL PROCESSES Spring 2010, Spring 2011
ASTR 6000 NEUTRON STARS Fall 2009
ASTR 2030-001: BLACK HOLES Fall 2004, Fall 2005, Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2010
ASTR 1120-002: STARS AND GALAXIES Spring 2008, Fall 2009
ASTR 5120-001 INTERNAL PROCESSES IN GASES - II Spring 2006, Spring 2007
Postdocs:
Bruno
Giacomazzo (10/2011-present)
Matthew Van Adelsberg
(09/2006-08/2008)
Graduate students:
These are students
who have been recently (or currently are) involved in research
projects with me.
Travel Schedule
Hobbies:
Dance, Music, Travel, Photography.
Pictures:
Italy
- Travel
- Boulder
and surroundings
Bicycle
trip I - link to a web site by Max P. with whom I shared part
(2600 km) of a bicycle trip in Europe in the summer 1999.
Bicycle
trip II - cycling trip around the Baltic sea, summer 2011
Some local links: