Mentor Areas
Professor Bernstein's research is focused on the use of gravitational lensing, the deflection of light by gravity as predicted by General Relativity. These deflections can cause dramatic distortions of background objects, or more subtle effects which can only be detected as statistical correlations among the shapes of millions of galaxies. These gravitational lensing effects have been used to measure the mass of dark matter halos around typical galaxies, the power spectrum of matter in the Universe, and the properties of the dark energy that is causing the expansion of the Universe to accelerate. Penn is partner to large surveys of the sky that we also use to search for solar system objects beyond Neptune or other astronomical investigations.
Description:
Projects will vary. Interested students should contact us to discuss possibilities.
Preferred Qualifications
Students should have completed introductory physics and calculus sequences, and preferably astro 2211 or 2212. Prior programming experience will be valuable.
Details:
Preferred Student Year
Second-Year, Junior, Senior
Academic Term
Fall, Summer
I prefer to have students start during the above term(s).Volunteer
No
Yes indicates that faculty are open to volunteers.Paid
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to paying students they engage in their research, regardless of their work-study eligibility.Work Study
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to hiring work-study-eligible students.