Rennan Barkana

Biography

Professor Rennan Barkana studies the formation and evolution of the first stars. He constructs models in order to predict the properties of the galaxies in which the first stars formed, and studies ways to study these early galaxies, especially via radio-wave radiation from hydrogen atoms at a wavelength of 21 cm. He led a study published in 2012 that proposed a new method for detecting the first stars from the early era when the age of the Universe was only one percent of its current age. Another ground-breaking study (end of 2013) predicted for the first time the observational signatures of black holes in the early galaxies resulting from the heating of the cosmic gas when the Universe was half a billion years old.

Research Interest

Theoretical Astrophysics and Cosmology: 21-cm cosmology, formation of the first stars and quasars, cosmic reionization, galaxy formation, large-scale structure, and gravitational lensing.