Basel Universität
Departement für Physik und Astronomie
Departement für Physik und Astronomie

Prof. Dr. Friedrich-K. Thielemann

Professor of Theoretical Physics (Ordinarius)
Department of Physics
University of Basel
Klingelbergstrasse 82
CH-4056 Basel


office 4.9
tel.: ++41 (0)61 267 3748 (office)
e-mail:
research group: http://phys-merger.physik.unibas.ch/


administrative assistant
Francois Erkadoo
e-mail:
tel.: ++41 (0)61 267 3750
fax: ++41 (0)61 267 1349



Short Biography

Friedrich-Karl (Friedel) Thielemann, born 1951 in Mülheim/Ruhr (Germany), studied (theoretical) physics at the Technical University of Darmstadt (TUD), received his Ph.D. for studies in nuclear physics and its astrophysical applications (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching and TUD) in 1980, held postdoctoral positions and extended research visits at the University of Chicago (with D.N. Schramm and W.D. Arnett), the California Institute of Technology (with Willy Fowler), the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (with H.V. Klapdor), the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (with W. Hillebrandt) and the University of Illinois (with J.W. Truran).

In 1986 he was elected assistant professor, then associate prof. in 1991 at Harvard University (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Harvard Observatory). In 1994 he accepted the offer for a full professorship at the University of Basel.



Research Summary

The research groups of T. Rauscher, M. Liebendörfer and F.-K. Thielemann focus on theoretical and computational astrophysics as well as the subatomic processes which enter the modeling of hot and dense astrophysical plasmas. The latter include the broad field of Nuclear Astrophysics (nuclear and particle physics reactions, the highest density equation of state, properties of nuclei far from stability). This is applied to the big bang, the evolution of stars, compact objects (white dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes), explosive events (like novae, X-ray and Gamma-ray bursts, type Ia and type II supernovae, neutron star mergers and other collisions), leading often to the ejection of elements and isotopes originating from stable or explosive (nuclear) burning of matter or also the emission of gravitational waves.

Astronomical Observers, experimental astro-particle physicists, or geo- and cosmochemists can provide constraints to test the results of such theoretical/computational modeling. The evolution of galaxies witnesses the cumulated input of the astrophysical sites listed above, can test the effect of individual objects, and especially the observation of "very-low metallicity stars" can test the very onset of the evolution of galaxies, starting initially with a composition resulting from the big bang.

Honors
Otto Hahn Medal (1979)
Milton Fund Award (1986)
JSPS Fellowship (1992)
visiting professorship (Torino, 1995)
distinguished visiting scientist (Oak Ridge, 1997-2001)
elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (since 1998)
member of the Swiss Research Council (since 2004)
Swiss speaker of the International Graduate School Basel-Graz-Tübingen (since 2005)
Hans A. Bethe Prize of the American Physical Society (2008).


Selected Committee Memberships
Editorial Boards of Review of Modern Physics and Nuclear Physics A
Board of Directors at ECT* Trento
served on advisory/review boards/committees for CERN-ISOLDE, TRIUMF, NuPECC, Oak Ridge and Argonne National Labs., Helmholtz Society, Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics.



Selected Publications



Type II supernovae

  1. Fr�hlich, C. et al., Neutrino-Induced Nucleosynthesis of A>64 Nuclei: The νp Process, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 142502 (2006).
  2. Fr�hlich, C. et al., Composition of the Innermost Core-Collapse Supernova Ejecta, Ap. J. 637, 415 (2006).
  3. Liebendörfer, M. et al., Probing the gravitational well: No supernova explosion in spherical symmetry with general relativistic Boltzmann neutrino transport, Phys. Rev. D 63, 3004 (2001).
  4. Nakamura, T. et al., Explosive Nucleosynthesis in Hypernovae, Ap. J. 555, 880 (2001).
  5. Thielemann, F.-K., Nomoto, K., Hashimoto, M., Core Collapse Supernovae and their Ejecta, Ap. J. 460, 408 (1996).

Type Ia supernovae

  1. Thielemann, F.-K. et al.: The Physics of Type Ia Supernovae, New Astronomy Rev. 48, 605 (2004).
  2. Iwamoto, K. et al., Nucleosynthesis in Chandrasekhar Mass Models for Type Ia Supernovae and Constraints on Progenitor Systems and Burning Front Propagation, Ap. J. Suppl. 125, 439 (1999).
  3. Hoeflich, P., Wheeler, J. C., Thielemann, F. K., Type Ia Supernovae: Influence of the Initial Composition....., Ap. J. 495, 617 (1998).
  4. Nomoto, K., Thielemann, F.-K., Yokoi, K., Accreting white dwarf models of Type I supernovae: Carbon deflagration supernovae, Ap. J. 286, 644 (1984).

X-ray bursts and νp processes

  1. Fisker, J. L., Thielemann, F.-K., Wiescher, M., The Nuclear Reaction Waiting Points: 22Mg, 26Si, 30S, and 34Ar and Bolometrically Double-peaked Type I X-Ray Bursts, Ap. J. 608, L 61 (2004).
  2. Schatz, H. et al., End Point of the rp-Process on Accreting Neutron Stars, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 3471 (2001).
  3. Schatz, H. et al., νp-Process Nucleosynthesis at Extreme Temperature and Density Conditions, Phys. Rep. 294, 167 (1998).

Neutron star mergers, gamma-ray bursts and highest density eos

  1. Oechslin, R., Uryu, K., Poghosyan, G., Thielemann, F.-K., The influence of quark matter at high densities on binary neutron star mergers, MNRAS 349, 1469 (2004).
  2. Rosswog, S. et al., Mass ejection in neutron star mergers, A & A 341, 499 (1999).

r-process and heavy element production

  1. Cowan, J. J.; Thielemann, F.-K., R-process nucleosynthesis in supernovae, Phys. Today 57, 47 (2004).
  2. Pfeiffer, B., Kratz, K.-L., Thielemann, F.-K., Walters, W. B., Nuclear structure studies for the astrophysical r-process, Nucl. Phys. A 693, 282 (2001).
  3. Freiburghaus, C., Rosswog, S., Thielemann, F.-K., R-Process in Neutron Star Mergers, A & A 525, L121 (1999).
  4. Rauscher, T., Applegate, J. H., Cowan, J. J., Thielemann, F.-K., Wiescher, M., Production of heavy elements in inhomogeneous cosmologies, Ap. J. 429, 499 (1994).
  5. Kratz, K.-L. et al., Isotopic r-process abundances and nuclear structure far from stability - Implications for the r-process mechanism, Ap. J. 403, 216 (1993).

properties of nuclei far from stability and reaction cross sections

  1. Panov, I. V. et al., Calculations of fission rates for r-process nucleosynthesis, Nucl. Phys. A 747, 633 (2005).
  2. Rauscher, T., Thielemann, F.-K., Astrophysical Reaction Rates From Statistical Model Calculations, At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 75, 1 (2000).
  3. Käppeler, F., Thielemann, F.-K., Wiescher, M., Current Quests in Nuclear Astrophysics and Experimental Approaches, Ann. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 48, 175 (1998).

galactic evolution:

  1. Argast, D., Samland, M., Thielemann, F.-K., Qian, Y.-Z., Neutron star mergers versus core-collapse supernovae as dominant r-process sites in the early Galaxy, A & A 416, 997 (2004).
  2. Argast, D. et al., Metal-poor halo stars as tracers of ISM mixing processes during halo formation, A & A 356, 873 (2000).
  3. Cowan, J.J. et al., R-Process Abundances and Chronometers in Metal-poor Stars, Ap. J. 521, 194 (1999).