Dr. Fereshteh Rajabi

Biography

I am Fereshteh Rajabi, an assistant professor of physics at McMaster University. Prior to this, I was a postdoctoral fellow at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI). I take joy and pride in being an interdisciplinary astrophysicist with a training record in both astronomy and quantum physics. I explore quantum effects in the interstellar medium (ISM) and draw connections between quantum optics laboratory experiments and events in astronomical media using time domain radio astronomy data. ISM hosts some of the most extreme conditions in the Universe making the largest smoothly running laboratory. Over the past few years, I have developed theoretical models employing the most fundamental physics to understand astronomical observations involving radio transients either in the form of maser flares or fast radio bursts. During my postdoctoral years, I also worked closely with experimental quantum optics physicists gaining invaluable insight about collective quantum phenomena while conducting theoretical research on some profound quantum optics experimental platforms. My graduate studies were a mix of physics and astronomy research concluding in my PhD thesis, in which, for the first time, Dicke's superradiance effect is applied to astronomical media to understand abrupt maser flares. I was awarded the J.S. Plaskett medal for the best PhD thesis in astrophysics and astronomy in Canada in 2017 by the Canadian Astronomical Society and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

Research Interests

Experience

Awards