Prof. Dr. Alexandre Refregier

Prof. Dr.  Alexandre Refregier

Prof. Dr. Alexandre Refregier

Full Professor at the Department of Physics

ETH Zürich

Inst. f. Teilchen- und Astrophysik

HIT J 23.1

Wolfgang-Pauli-Str. 27

8093 Zürich

Switzerland

Additional information

Research area

Recent observations have established that the energy density of the universe at our epoch is dominated by two mysterious components. First, 76% of its energy density is in the form of Dark Energy, which is causing the Universe expansion to accelerate. Another 20% of the energy in the universe is in the form of dark matter, which exerts a gravitational attraction as normal matter, but does not emit light. One possibility to explain one or both of these puzzles is that Einstein's General Relativity, and thus our understanding of gravity, needs to be revised on cosmological scales. Together, dark energy and dark matter pose some of the most important questions in fundamental physics today. My research interests focus on the understanding of these fundamental questions in Cosmology from measurements of the large-scale structure of the universe. For this purpose, I use astrophysical observations in different wavelengths ranging from X-rays to the radio band and combine the observational, theoretical and instrumental approaches.

Astrophysics and Cosmology: Dark energy, Dark matter, Weak Gravitational lensing, Baryon Accoustic Oscillations, Cosmic Microwave Background, Galaxy Clusters

Methods: theoretical modelling, space mission development (Principal Investigator level, science and instrumentation), observations, data analysis methods

Publications

ADS / astro-ph

2011 – pressent: Professor, ETH Zürich, Switzerland 2011 – present

2002 – 2011: Astrophysicist CEA Saclay, France

1999 - 2002: Research Associate, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

1997 – 1999: Research Associate, Princeton University, Priceton, NJ, USA

1993 – 1997: PhD in Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

Thesis: Discrete Source Backgrounds in Cosmology

Thesis Advisor: Prof. David J. Helfand

Thesis co-Advisor: Prof. Abraham Loeb (Harvard)

1992 – 1993: M.Phil. in Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

1991 – 1992: M.A. in Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

1987 – 1991: B.S. in Physics (Honors degree, Summa cum Laude) University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

Course Catalogue

Autumn Semester 2024

Number Unit
402-0101-00L The Zurich Physics Colloquium
402-0263-00L Astrophysics I
402-0263-10L Astrophysics I
402-0300-00L IPA Colloquium
402-0371-62L Cosmological Probes