Department of Physics

Faculty Description


Contact
  • Office Location:  MHA 5631 or SERF 337
  • Office Phone:  MHA: 858-534-0924 or SERF: 858-534-8914
  • Email:  kgriest@ucsd.edu
  • Administrative Contact:  Bernie Camberos
Research Statement
  • My main interests are the dark matter and the vacuum energy (aka dark energy) that are thought to make up more than 95% of the mass of the Universe. I am also interested in gravitational lensing, especially microlensing as it is used to search for normally invisible objects such as dark matter, black holes, dim stars, and extra-solar planets. I also work on other aspects of the early universe such as the production of supersymmetric dark matter, as well as other issues in theoretical and observational astrophysics and particle-astrophysics.
Awards & News
  • Elected to Fellowship in the American Physical Society. 2002
  • "For contributions to understanding the nature of dark matter, including the theory of relic abundance and detection of particle dark matter, and the theory, discovery, and interpretation of gravitational microlensing."
  • Chancellor's Associates Faculty Award 2002
  • Chancellor's Associates Faculty Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, 2002
Selected Publications
  • - Fitting Photometry of Blended Microlensing Events, C.L.Thomas and K.Griest, ApJ, 640, 299 (2006).

  • - Galactic Bulge Microlensing Events from the MACHO Collaboration, C.L. Thomas, K. Griest, P. Popowski, \etal, (MACHO collaboration) ApJ, 631, 906 (2005).

  • - Microlensing Optical Depth towards the Galactic Bulge Using Clump Giants from the MACHO Survey, P. Popowski, K. Griest, C.L. Thomas, \etal, (MACHO collaboration) ApJ 631, 879 (2005).

  • - The MACHO Project Large Magellanic Cloud Variable Star Inventory. XIII. Fourier Parameters for the First Overtone RR Lyrae Variables and the LMC Distance, C.Alcock, et al., AJ, 127, 334 (2004).

  • - Geometry of the LMC Disk: Results from MACHO and 2MASS, S.Nikolaev, A.J.Drake, S.C.Keller, K.H.Cook, N.Dalal, K.Griest, D.L.Welch, and S.M.Kanbur, ApJ, 601, 260 (2004).

  • - Variability Selected Quasars in MACHO Project Magenllanic Cloud Fields M.Geha, et al. (MACHO Collaboration), AJ 125, 1, 2003.

  • - The MACHO Project LMC Variable Star Inventory XI. Frequency Analysis of the Fundamental Mode RR Lyrae Stars, C.Alcock, et.al., (MACHO Collaboration) ApJ, 598, 597 (2003).

  • - Gravitational Microlensing Events Due to Stellar Mass Black Holes, D.P.Bennett, et al. (MACHO and MPS collaborations) ApJ 579, 639, (2002).

  • - Toward a Possible Solution to the Cosmic Coincidence Problem, Physical Review D 66 123501 (2002).

  • - Direct Detection of a Microlens in the Milky Way with C.Alcock, et al., Nature, 414, 617 (2001).