Prof. Tsevi Mazeh

Emeritus in School of Physics and Astronomy
ביה"ס לפיזיקה ואסטרונומיה אמריטוס
Phone: 03-6408208
Fax: 03-6408179
Office: Kaplun, 106

Research

Prof. Tsevi Mazeh works on a range of topics in exo-planetary and binary observational astrophysics, including: discovery and characterization of extrasolar planets, mainly via transits and the radial velocity techniques; detecting binaries with dormant black hole secondaries via analysis of available light curves; analysis of circumbinary planets; analysis of the Gaia data sets.

 

Research achievements include: Analysis of Kepler space mission data to derive rotation periods of 34,000 main-sequence stars with the autocorrelation technique, making this the largest sample of stellar rotation periods to date.; derivation of transit timing catalog of 2600 Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs), using the full 17 quarters of the mission, detecting 260 KOIs that showed significant TTVs with long-term variations; constructing a simple algorithm, BEER, to search for a combination of the BEaming, Ellipsoidal and the Reflection/heating periodic modulations, induced by short-period non-transiting low-mass companions; using this technique to discover a new exoplanet, Kepler-76b, at an orbital period of 1.54 days around a 13.3 mag F star; pointing to the significance of the dearth of exoplanets with Neptune mass and radius with orbital periods below 2-4 d. The existence of this desert is similar to the appearance of the so-called brown-dwarf desert that suggests different formation mechanisms for planets and stellar companions with short orbital periods.

 

Future directions include: using the massive data sets from new astronomical facilities (Gaia, TESS, SDSS-V) for order-of-magnitude improvements in the discovery of dormant black holes and circumbinary planets.

Education

  • Ph.D., Theoretical Physics, The Hebrew University, 1979

  • M.Sc., Cum Laude, Theoretical Physics, The Hebrew University, 1973 

  • B.Sc., Cum Laude, Mathematics and Physics, The Hebrew University, 1969   

Academic Appointments

  • The Oren Family Professor of Experimental Physics, 2006

  • Professor, School of Physics & Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, 1991-Present

  • Associate Prof., School of Physics & Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, 1983-1991

  • Lecturer, School of Physics & Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, 1982-1983

  • Post Doctorate, Astronomy Department, UC, Berkeley, 1980-1981

  • Post Doctorate, School of Physics & Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, 1978-1980

Other Professional Positions

  • Sackler Institute of Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Director, 2001-2007

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics Dept., Tel Aviv University, Chair, 1994-1997

  • Wise Observatory, Tel Aviv University, Director, 1988-1990, 2011-2012

Awards and Prizes

  • Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies – Fellow, 2008-2009

  • The Weizmann Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research, Tel Aviv, 2009

  • ERC Advanced Grant: Detecting massive-planet/brown-dwarf/low-mass-stellar companions with the beaming effect, 2011

  • All Souls, Oxford, Visiting Fellow, 2012

  • Tel Aviv University Rector Excellency in Teaching, 2014

Tel Aviv University makes every effort to respect copyright. If you own copyright to the content contained
here and / or the use of such content is in your opinion infringing, Contact us as soon as possible >>