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Fereshteh Rajabi

Joint Postdoctoral Researcher - PI/IQC
Postdoctoral Researcher
Phd: University of Western Ontario 2016

Area of Research:
Cosmology
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/fereshteh-rajabi/home

I am Fereshteh Rajabi, a postdoctoral fellow at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI) and Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo. I explore quantum effects in the interstellar medium working closely with astrophysicists at PI and quantum optician at the IQC. During my first postdoc at the IQC, I searched for robust quantum simulation protocols that can be implemented in ion trap experiments and are extendable to other quantum simulation platforms. I also worked briefly on superradiance in cold atom systems. I obtained my PhD from the University of Western Ontario Sept. 2016. During my PhD, I studied Dicke's superradiance in astrophysics. I am intrigued by radiation burst phenomena in astronomical media and apply quantum physics to explain radiation flares detected by radio astronomers. I draw connections between quantum optics laboratory experiments and events in astronomical media where some of the most extreme conditions in the Universe can be found.

Research Interests

Probing quantum mechanical effects in astronomical media, mainly coherent phenomena, is one of my primary research interests, where I use theoretical quantum optics tools and numerical modelling to explain astronomical observations. I also utilize my findings in these media to test the foundations of quantum physics. Along with my interests in astrophysics, I develop theoretical quantum optics/quantum simulation toolboxes that are realizable in the laboratory.

Positions Held

  • 2019 /11/01 to 2020/04/10, on Maternity leave.
  • 2012-2016 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western University, PhD Student
  • 2011-2012 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western University, Master's student.
  • 2009-2010 Department of Physics, Wesleyan University, Master's student
  • 2004-2008 Department of Physics, University of Tehran, Undergraduate student.

Awards

  • J.S. Plaskett Medal for Best PhD Thesis in Astronomy & Astrophysics in Canada, Canadian Astronomical Society, CASCA
  • Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) postdoctoral fellowship
  • Robert & Ruth Lumsden Graduate Award, University of Western Ontario
  • Mitacs Globalink Research Award-Sorbonne
  • Teaching Assistant Award of Excellence, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Western Ontario

Recent Publications

  • F. Rajabi and M. Houde, "Astronomical masers and Dicke's superradiance", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 494, Issue 4 (2020), arXiv: 2004.07327
  • MacLeod, G. C. et al. (including F. Rajabi), "Detection of new methanol maser transitions associated with G358.93-0.03", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 489, 3981 (2019), arXiv: 1910.00685
  • T. Yoon, Z. Ding, J. Flannery, F. Rajabi, and M. Bajcsy, "Monitoring Raman emission through state population in cold atoms confined inside a hollow-core fiber", Optics Express 27, no. 13 (2019).
  • "A simple relationship for the spectro-temporal structure of bursts from FRB 121102", F. Rajabi , M. A. Chamma, C. M. Wyenberg, A. Mathews, and M. Houde, arXiv: 2008.02395

Seminars

  • Engineering 2D lattices from 1D spin chains, Western University, 2020-02-27
  • Superradiance in Astrophysics, John H. Black Symposium, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden (June 2019)
  • PIRSA:20020079, Dicke's superradiance in astrophysics - maser flares and fast radio bursts, 2020-02-21, Centre for the Universe - Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics Day
  • PIRSA:18060007, Dicke"s Superradiance -- From millisecond fast radio bursts (FRBs) to multiyear maser bursts, 2018-06-26, Cosmology & Gravitation