Prof. Dr. Friedrich Thielemann

Profile

Academic positionEmeritus
Research fieldsNuclear Physics,Astrophysics
Keywordsnuclear cross sections and reaction rates, stellar evolution, stellar explosions, supernovae, nucleosynthesis
Honours and awards

2020: Karl Schwarzschild Medal of the Astronomische Gesellschaft

2013: ERC Advanced Grant

2012: Lise Meitner Prize of the EPS

2009: Humboldt Research Award of the AvH Foundation

2008: Hans A. Bethe Prize of the APS

: more on website www.physik.unibas.ch/personen/list-prof-emeriti/prof-emer-thielemann.html

Current contact address

CountrySwitzerland
CityBasel
InstitutionUniversität Basel
InstituteDepartment Physik

Host during sponsorship

Prof. Dr. Karlheinz LangankeGSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Darmstadt
Start of initial sponsorship01/04/2009

Programme(s)

2009Humboldt Research Award Programme

Nominator's project description

Friedrich-Karl Thielemann is professor for theoretical physics at the University of Basel and one of the world-leading nuclear astrophysicists. His work focuses on theoretical and computational astrophysics in combination with the nuclear processes which enter the modelling of hot and dense astrophysical plasmas. He laid the groundwork for predicting nuclear reaction rates among stable and unstable nuclei in the big bang or stellar environments. He has made major contributions to the understanding of late stages of stellar evolution and stellar explosions, including thermonuclear and core collapse supernovae, novae, X-ray bursts, and neutron star mergers. Ejecta of such objects provide the source for the element production during the evolution of galaxies. For these achievements he was honored in 2008 with the Hans Bethe Prize of the American Physical Society. He will spend his stay as Humboldt awardee in the theory group at GSI Darmstadt for collaborations on the formation of heavy (and the heaviest) elements and isotopes in nature.