Professor Reshmi Mukherjee at CAL.

Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory

Reshmi Mukherjee

E-mail: muk (at) astro.columbia.edu
Office: 506 Altschul, 1010 Pupin
Telephone: (212) 854-5101

Research Interests:

Gamma-Ray Astrophysics; Active Galactic Nuclei, Unidentified gamma-ray sources, Extragalactic gamma-ray background.
Experimental Astrophysics; Ground-based Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes.

My research interests are in high energy astrophysics and astroparticle physics. I am involved in several projects. My main current projects are:

STACEE: The Solar Tower Atmospheric Cherenkov Effect Experiment studies GeV/TeV gamma rays from astrophysical sources. STACEE uses a large collection of heliostats at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility in New Mexico. The STACEE collaboration use these mirrors at night to detect the quick flashes of blue Cherenkov light that result from gamma-ray air showers. These gamma rays originate from galactic and extragalactic astrophysical sources.
VERITAS: Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System is a new major ground-based gamma-ray observatory with an array of four 12m optical reflectors for gamma-ray astronomy in the GeV - TeV energy range. VERITAS will study extragalactic and galactic high energy gamma-ray sources in the 50 GeV - 50 TeV band (with maximum sensitivity from 100 GeV to 10 TeV). This VHE Observatory will effectively complement FERMI (GLAST) observations of high energy sources.
Double Chooz Neutrino Reactor Experiment: Using electron antineutrinos from the Chooz nuclear reactor in northern France, this experiment will explore neutrino oscillations involving the unknown mixing angle, q13. Measurement of this mixing angle is crucial for taking the next step in neutrino oscillations physics and for trying to understand the masses, mixings and possible CP violation effects.
AGIS: The Advanced Gamma-Ray Imaging System is a next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory being planned in the U.S.
Analysis of archival gamma-ray (EGRET) and X-ray data.
Study of the unidentified high energy gamma-ray sources.
Study of gamma-ray blazars detected at GeV and TeV energies, the extragalactic gamma-ray background, clusters of galaxies.

Teaching (2008):

Physics BC 3006: Quantum Physics (Spring 2008)

Physics BC 3086: Quantum Physics Laboratory (Spring 2008)

Physics BC 2001: Introduction to Mechanics (Fall 2008)

Physics BC 3900: Supervised Individual Research (Fall 2008)

Background:

2007 - Present: Professor & Chair, Physics & Astronomy, Barnard College
2003 - 2007: Associate Professor, Physics & Astronomy, Barnard College
1997 - 2003: Assistant Professor, Barnard College
1996 - 1997: Visiting Scientist, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
1993 - 1997: Research Scientist, Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, USRA/NASA/GSFC
1993 - Ph.D., Physics (Title: Development of a High Resolution Liquid Xenon Detector for Gamma-Ray Astrophysics), Columbia University
1991 - M.Phil, Physics, Columbia University
1989 - M.A., Physics, Columbia University
1986 - B.Sc., Physics (Hons.), Presidency College, University of Calcutta

Selected Publications

On the Origin of TeV Gamma-ray Emission from HESS J1834-087," R. Mukherjee, E. V. Gotthelf, J. P. Halpern, 2008, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

"Transient X-ray sources in the field of the Unidentified Gamma-Ray Source TeV J2032+4130 in Cygnus," R. Mukherjee, E. V. Gotthelf, J. P. Halpern, o appear in Proceedings of the conference "The Multi-Messenger Approach to High-Energy Gamma-ray Sources" Barcelona/Spain (2006), Astrophysics and Space Science, Volume 309, Issue 1-4, pp. 29-33.

"Chandra Observation of the Unidentified TeV Gamma-Ray Source HESS J1303-631 in the Galactic Plane," R. Mukherjee & J. P. Halpern, 2005, ApJ, 629, 1017.

"STACEE Observation of Low-Frequency Peaked BL Lac Objects," R. Mukherjee, et al., 2005, Proceedings of the 29th International Cosmic Ray Conference. August 3-10, 2005, Pune, India.

" Multifrequency Strategies for the Identification of Gamma-Ray Sources," R. Mukherjee & J. P. Halpern, Chapter prepared for the book "Cosmic Gamma-ray Sources", edited by K.S. Cheng and G.E. Romero, to be published by Kluwer Academic Press, 2004.

" High-Energy Gamma-Ray Observations of W Comae with the Solar Tower Atmospheric Cerenkov Effect Experiment", R. A. Scalzo, et al., 2004, ApJ, 607, 778.

"Search for a Point-Source Counterpart of the Unidentified Gamma-Ray Source TeV J2032+4130 in Cygnus," R. Mukherjee, J. P. Halpern, E. V. Gotthelf, M. Eracleous, and N. Mirabal, 2003, ApJ, 589, 487.

" Predictions of the High-Energy Emission from BL Lac Objects: The Case of W Comae," M. Boettcher, R. Mukherjee, & A. Reimer, 2002, ApJ, 581, 143.

" A Statistical Detection of Gamma-ray Emission from Galaxy Clusters: Implications for the Gamma-ray Background and Structure Formation," C. Scharf \& R. Mukherjee, 2002, ApJ, 580, 154.

" Is the EGRET Source 3EG J1621+8203 the Radio Galaxy NGC~6251?," R. Mukherjee, J. Halpern, N. Mirabal, E. V. Gotthelf, 2002, ApJ, 574, 693.

"STACEE Observations of Markarian 421 during an Extended Gamma-Ray Outburst , L. M. Boone, et al., 2002, ApJ, 579L, 5.

"The Laser Calibration Sysyem for the STACEE Ground-based Gamma-ray Detector," D. Hanna \& R. Mukherjee, 2002, Nuclear Instruments \& Methods (NIM), 482/1-2, 271.

"The Luminosity Function of the EGRET Gamma-Ray Blazars," J. Chiang & R. Mukherjee, 1998, ApJ, 496, 752.

"EGRET Observations of High Energy Gamma-ray Emission from Blazars: An Update," R. Mukherjee, D. L. Bertsch, S. D. Bloom, B. L. Dingus, J. A. Esposito, C. E. Fichtel, R. C. Hartman, S. D. Hunter, G. Kanbach, D. A. Kniffen, Y. C. Lin, H. A. Mayer-Hasselwander, L. M. McDonald, P. F. Michelson, C. von Montigny, A. Mucke, P. L. Nolan, M. Pohl, O. Reimer, E. Schneid, P. Sreekumar, D. J. Thompson, 1997, ApJ, accepted, Nov. 20, 1997 issue.

"Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope High-Energy Gamma-Ray Observations of the Moon and quiet Sun," D. J. Thompson, D. L. Bertsch, D. J. Morris, R. Mukherjee, 1997, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 14735.

"Discovery of a Nonblazar Gamma-Ray Transient Source near the Galactic Plane: GRO J1838-04," M. Tavani, R. Mukherjee, J.R. Mattox, J. Halpern, D.J. Thompson, G. Kanbach, W. Hermsen, S.N. Zhang, R.S. Foster, 1997, ApJ, 479L, 109.

"EGRET Observations of the 1993 March Gamma-Ray Flare from PKS 0528+134," Mukherjee, R., Dingus, B. L., Gear, W. K., Hartman, R. C., Hunter, S. D., Marscher, A. P., Moore, E. M., Pohl, M., Robson, E. I., Sreekumar, P., Stevens, J. A., Terasranta, H., Tornikoski, M., Travis, J. P., Wagner, S. J., Zhang, Y. F., 1996, ApJ, 470, 831.

"EGRET gamma-ray sources: GRO J0744+54 and GRO J0957+65 (=BL Lac Object 0954+658)," Mukherjee, R., Aller, H.D., Aller, M.F., Bertsch, D.L., Collmar, W., Digel, S.W., Dingus, B.L., Esposito, J.A., Fichtel, Hartman, R.C., Hunter, S.D., Johnson, W.N., Kanbach, G., Kniffen, D.A., Lin, Y.C., Mattox, J.R., Mayer-Hasselwander, H.A., Michelson, P.F., von Montigny, C., Nolan, P.L., Ramanamurthy, P.V., Schneid, E., Sreekumar, P., Terasranta, H., Thompson, D.J., Wagner, S.J., 1995, ApJ, 445, 189-195.

"On the nature of the EGRET unidentified sources: Are they Geminga-like pulsars?," Mukherjee, R., Bertsch, D.L., Dingus, B.L., Kanbach, G., Kniffen, D.A., Sreekumar, P., and Thompson, D.J., 1995, ApJ, 441, L61-L64.

2007 January www@astro.columbia.edu