Andisheh Mahdavi

Assistant Professor
Department of Physics and Astronomy
San Francisco State University

Thornton Hall 527 
Office: (415) 338 1697
Email: amahdavi at sfsu.edu  

Research Interests: dark matter, clusters of galaxies, X-ray astronomy, dynamics

Curriculum Vitae
Centuries old formula helps map clusters of galaxies
Active research students:
Weihan Chang: X-ray determination of dark matter profile in clusters of galaxies
Tyler Chapman: GPU parallelization of galaxy cluster X-ray plasma fitting codes
Daniel Hakim: The stellar mass distribution in rich galaxy cluster cores
Jason Smith: Triaxial models of the plasma in clusters of galaxies
Mayra Lopez-Thibodeux: Cryogenic neutralino dark matter search (primarily in conjunction S. E. Boggs @ UC Berkeley)
Most of the material in the universe is invisible. That is one of the most dramatic, perplexing, and yet persistent findings of modern astrophysics. We know that dark matter exists because of the way it tugs on galaxies, heats cosmic gas, and bends the light from distant objects. My research involves mapping the large dark halos within cluster of galaxies, looking for structures that reveal the nature and composition of dark matter.
Selected Publications
  • "Model-Independent Limits on the Line-of-Sight Extent of Galaxy Clusters Using X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Data," Mahdavi & Chang, 2011, ApJL, 735, L4
  • "The Role of Black Holes in Galaxy Formation and Evolution," Cattaneo et al., 2009, Nature, 460, 213
  • "The X-ray Cluster Normalization of the Matter Power Spectrum," Henry et al. 2009, ApJ, 691, 1307

All Refereed Publications 
Teaching