John Carlstrom

About

John E. Carlstrom is a Professor and the Subramanyan Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Physics at The University of Chicago. He is associated with the Research Office ERC 341 and the Chair's Office ERC 599E. His research focuses on astrophysics, cosmology, and related fields, contributing to the understanding of fundamental physics. He has been recognized for his work, including the award of the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics to the Event Horizon Telescope.

Research topics

• Astrophysics
• Physics
• Astronomy
• Computer Science
• Optics
• Algorithm
• Statistics
• Particle physics
• Quantum mechanics
• Mathematics

Selected publications

• First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. I. The Shadow of the Supermassive Black Hole in the Center of the Milky Way

  The Astrophysical Journal Letters · 2022 · 1712 citations

  Abstract We present the first Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the Galactic center source associated with a supermassive black hole. These observations were conducted in 2017 using a global interferometric array of eight telescopes operating at a wavelength of λ = 1.3 mm. The EHT data resolve a compact emission region with intrahour variability. A variety of imaging and modeling analyses all support an image that is dominated by a bright, thick ring with a d…

  DOI

• First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. VIII. Magnetic Field Structure near The Event Horizon

  The Astrophysical Journal Letters · 2021 · 640 citations

  Abstract Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations at 230 GHz have now imaged polarized emission around the supermassive black hole in M87 on event-horizon scales. This polarized synchrotron radiation probes the structure of magnetic fields and the plasma properties near the black hole. Here we compare the resolved polarization structure observed by the EHT, along with simultaneous unresolved observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, to expectations from theoretical mo…

  DOI

• Measurements of the <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>E</mml:mi></mml:math>-mode polarization and temperature-<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>E</mml:mi></mml:math>-mode correlation of the CMB from SPT-3G 2018 data

  Physical review. D/Physical review. D. · 2021 · 259 citations

  We present measurements of the $E$-mode ($EE$) polarization power spectrum and temperature-$E$-mode ($TE$) cross-power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background using data collected by SPT-3G, the latest instrument installed on the South Pole Telescope. This analysis uses observations of a $1500\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{deg}}^{2}$ region at 95, 150, and 220 GHz taken over a four-month period in 2018. We report binned values of the $EE$ and $TE$ power spectra over the angular multipole range $30…

  DOI

• CMB-S4: Forecasting Constraints on Primordial Gravitational Waves

  The Astrophysical Journal · 2022 · 256 citations

  Abstract CMB-S4—the next-generation ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment—is set to significantly advance the sensitivity of CMB measurements and enhance our understanding of the origin and evolution of the universe. Among the science cases pursued with CMB-S4, the quest for detecting primordial gravitational waves is a central driver of the experimental design. This work details the development of a forecasting framework that includes a power-spectrum-based semianalytic proj…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The SPTpol Extended Cluster Survey

  The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · 2020 · 200 citations

  Abstract We describe the observations and resultant galaxy cluster catalog from the 2770 deg 2 SPTpol Extended Cluster Survey (SPT-ECS). Clusters are identified via the Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) effect and confirmed with a combination of archival and targeted follow-up data, making particular use of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). With incomplete follow-up we have confirmed as clusters 244 of 266 candidates at a detection significance ξ ≥ 5 and an additional 204 systems at 4 &lt; ξ &lt; 5.…

  DOI

Recent grants

• South Pole Observations to Test Cosmological Models

  NSF · $17.6M · 2002–2010

• Development of an Advanced Heterogeneous Array for Probing the High-Redshift Universe

  NSF · $2.8M · 2001–2007

• Collaborative Research: Astronomy with CARMA

  NSF · $1.1M · 2009–2013

Frequent coauthors

• B. A. Benson

  Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy

  854 shared

• C. L. Chang

  Argonne National Laboratory

  734 shared

• K. K. Schaffer

  University of Chicago

  649 shared

• J. J. Mohr

  619 shared

• S. S. Meyer

  575 shared

• L. E. Bleem

  University of Chicago

  541 shared

• G. Desvignes

  470 shared

• M. Dobbs

  Canadian Institute for Advanced Research

  427 shared

Labs

• Department of Physics, The University of ChicagoPI

Education

• Ph.D., Physics

  University of California Berkeley

  1988

Awards & honors

• 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics

Similar researchers at University of Chicago

• David Awschalomh-116
• Robert Waldh-111
• Carlos Wagnerh-101