Professor Wendy Freedman recently received the national science medal for his contributions to astronomy and research on Hubble’s constant measures. With the kind authorization of Wendy Freedman.
Professor Wendy Freedman received the national science medal last month for his work in cosmology and astronomy and his research on the Hubble constant. According to the US National Science Foundation (NSF)This presidential medal is awarded for “exceptional contributions to knowledge … in service to the nation”. The winners are chosen by a committee of distinguished scientists and engineers gathered by the president of the NSF. Only 14 The appointments received by the Committee received this honor, including Freedman.
Freedman, the professor of astronomy and astrophysics of the University of Marion Sullivan d’Uchicago, spoke with the Bordeaux on his research and lasting impact on the scientific community.
Freedman was recognized for his revolutionary research on the Hubble constant, a value that allowed scientists to determine the age of the universe and the pace in which he develops. In 2014, Freedman brought his work to Uchicago to deepen how to increase the accuracy of Hubble’s constant measures to determine if something fundamental lacks modern understanding of physics.
“We were working on ways to improve the precision that we could (use) measure these quantities. From the middle to the microwave, ”said Freedman. “The question is:” Is there a real gap, or are there still unknown systematic errors that could affect the measures? “”
Freedman, who grew up in Canada, explained that she has always been interested in astronomy, but could not start to continue it when she frequented the University of Toronto for her SB in astronomy and in Doctorate. in astronomy and astrophysics.
Following a postdoctoral scholarship at Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, California, Freedman was hired with full-time staff in Carnegie in 1987. In Carnegie, Freedman used the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope to measure distances to different Galaxies.
Freedman then co-directed a team of 30 astronomers on the Hubble Key project in Carnegie, an extension of the search carried out on the Hubble constant using the Hubble space telescope (thS). The HST Key project team has measured the distances at 24 different galaxies using variable stars Cepheid – stars that lighten and decrease periodically and are 500 to 30,000 times brighter than the sun.
“When the Hubble space telescope was launched, I became the scientific example of the project which aimed to try to solve this problem of speed to the widening of the universe,” said Freedman. “We have resolved that the debate that people argued if the universe was 10 or 20 billion years.”
The Freedman team estimated the age of the universe by its constant hubble measure of 72 km / s / MPC, which indicates that the universe is between 13.7 and 13.8 billion years.
Freedman was the first woman to occupy a full -time position with the observatory. According to Freedman, women still turned away from scholarships with Carnegie until the mid -80s, Freedman describing their excuse because they “had no toilets for women on the mountains”.
“I feel really grateful that I have entered at a time when it was possible to become a leader in a major program in a new installation such as the Hubble space telescope and to become director of a major observatory. These are just things that were not open to women, “said Freedman. “It’s very nice to see how it has changed during my career and how many women there are now in the field.”
In Uchicago, the Freedman team has measured the expansion rate of the Hubble constant with a new technique that studies the stars of the red giant stars to obtain a reliable measure for distance calculations. In 2019, Freedman published his team’s research with the conclusion that there was no real divergence in Hubble’s constant measures that many scientists analyzed.
However, according to Freedman, the conclusion of his team is a scientific controversy which has not yet been fully resolved, because some scientists still think that the gap corresponds to a real measurement error.
In his recent work, Freedman is enthusiastic about the possibility that something is lacking in the modern understanding of the standard cosmology model because he could lead to determining, as Freedman describes, “the ultimate evolution of the universe”.
“If the two types of measures are correct, the microwave background measures and local measures, it suggests that there is something really fundamental … and it would be really interesting,” said Freedman. “This would be that we could discover a new physics.”
The president of Uchicago astronomy and astrophysics, Joshua Frieman, who worked with the Freedman team many years ago to combine supernova data to force dark energy, says he Frequently relies on the advice of Freedman and “wise lawyers”.
“Wendy is a fantastic colleague and a devoted mentor to students and scientists at the start of the career, who shows us all for example what scientific excellence and leadership looks like,” said Frieman.
Frieman noted that the projects that Freedman led throughout his career, in Carnegie and Uchicago, were essential to the scientific understanding of the areas of astrophysics and astronomy.
“Wendy’s measures using the Hubble space telescope 25 years ago have resolved what had been a long -standing controversy in the field of cosmology in the second half of the 20th century,” said Frieman. “The most recent measures of his team using the James Webb space telescope seem to be about to resolve a similar controversy that has dominated the field in the past 10 years. The resolution of this problem is at the heart of the question of whether our current cosmology model will be held or fall, so the issues are very high. »»
Freedman said her current work with the James Webb space telescope data was exciting because she first recommended that the telescope be built over 25 years ago. She added that going from the observation of the telescope and its data measurement capacity to develop over the years to be able to use the data on the telescope has been “very rewarding”. She also highlighted the importance of overcoming obstacles on her way when it comes to pursuing a passion, explaining that she was “guided” by the fact that she “really likes” what She does.
“Do not be discouraged by obstacles. Find ways to get around them, overcome them. Everyone will spend moments when things seem difficult, but do not give up, “said Freedman. “If you like what you do, you will find a path.”