Tanmay Vachaspati
Interim Chair & Professor, Department of Physics Director, Cosmology Initiative,
Department of Physics
Other ASU affiliations
The Beyond Center
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Phone: 480-965-3587
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GWC 530 Tempe, AZ 85287-1504
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Mail code: 1504Campus: Tempe
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Long Bio
Tanmay Vachaspati is a theoretical physicist working at the intersection of particle physics, astrophysics, general relativity, and cosmology. He has written extensively on topological defects with an emphasis on cosmic strings, and on the generation, evolution, and observation of primordial magnetic fields. In addition he has made important advances in the study of cosmological inflation, black holes and magnetic monopoles, and has authored the monograph "Kinks and Domain Walls: an introduction to classical and quantum solitons". Vachaspati obtained his doctorate in 1985 from Tufts University and held postdoctoral positions at the University of Delaware and Cambridge University. He has held faculty positions at Tufts University, Case Western Reserve University, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Washington University, University of Maryland and CERN. He was Rosenbaum Fellow at the Isaac Newton Institute in Cambridge, Member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and is Fellow of the American Physical Society. He joined Arizona State University in 2010 where he is Professor of Physics and Director of the Cosmology Initiative.
Education
Ph.D. Tufts University 1985
Research Interests
Tanmay Vachaspati's research interests include particle physics, astrophysics, general relativity, and cosmology. He has written extensively on cosmic strings, primordial magnetic fields, cosmological inflation, black holes and magnetic monopoles. He has authored the monograph "Kinks and Domain Walls: an introduction to classical and quantum solitons".
Publications
Link to all publications
http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&ln=en&p=find+a+vachaspati%2C+t&of=hb…
Select Publications
- Creation of Magnetic Monopoles in Classical Scattering, T. Vachaspati, Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 181601 (2016). https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.07460
- Monopoles on strings, T.W.B. Kibble and T. Vachaspati, J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 42, 094002 (2015). https://arxiv.org/abs/1506.02022
- Search for CP Violation in the Gamma Ray Sky, H. Tashiro, W. Chen, F. Ferrer and T. Vachaspati, MNRAS: Letters 445 (1): L41-L45 (2014). https://arxiv.org/abs/1310.4826
- Leptogenesis and Primordial Magnetic Fields, A.J. Long, E. Sabancilar and T. Vachaspati, JCAP 02, 036 (2014). https://arxiv.org/abs/1309.2315
- Radio Broadcasts from Superconducting Strings, Y. F. Cai, E. Sabancilar, D. Steer and T. Vachaspati, Phys. Rev. D86, 043521 (2012). https://arxiv.org/abs/1205.3170
- Seeking String Theory in the Cosmos, E.J. Copeland, L. Pogosian and T. Vachaspati, Classical and Quantum Gravity 28, 204009 (2011). https://arxiv.org/abs/1105.0207
- Capacitor Discharge and Vacuum Resistance in Massless QED2, Y. Chu and T. Vachaspati, Phys. Rev. D81, 085020 (2010). https://arxiv.org/abs/1001.2559
- K. Jones-Smith, H. Mathur, and T. Vachaspati . 2010 . Aharonov-Bohm Radiation . Phys.Rev. . D81 (2010) . 043503
- T. Vachaspati, D. Stojkovic, and L. M. Krauss . 2007 . Observation of incipient black holes and the information loss problem . Phys.Rev. . D76 (2007) . 024005 http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0609024
- Tanmay Vachaspati . 2001 . Estimate of the primordial magnetic field helicity . Phys.Rev.Lett . 90 . http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0101261
- A.H. Guth, T. Vachaspati and S. Winitzki . 2000 . Energy Conditions in Eternal Inflation . . .File: on request.
- T. Vachaspati and M. Trodden . 1998 . Causality and Cosmic Inflation . Phys.Rev. . D61 . http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9811037
- G. Dvali, Hong Liu, Tanmay Vachaspati . 1997 . Sweeping Away the Monopole Problem . Phys.Rev.Lett. . 80 . http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/9710301
- Tanmay Vachaspati . 1995 . An Attempt to Construct the Standard Model with Monopoles . Phys.Rev.Lett. . 76 . 188-191 http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/9509271
- Jaume Garriga, Tanmay Vachaspati . 1994 . Zero Modes on Linked Strings . Nucl.Phys. . B438 . 161-181 http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/9411375
- T. Vachaspati, A. Achucarro . 1991 . Semilocal cosmic strings . Phys.Rev. . D44 . 3067-3071 http://prd.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v44/i10/p3067_1
- Tanmay Vachaspati . 1991 . Magnetic fields from cosmological phase transitions . Phys.Lett. . B265 . 258-261 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/037026939190051Q
- D. Garfinkle and T. Vachaspati . 1990 . Cosmic-string traveling waves . Phys.Rev. . D42 . 1960-1963 http://prd.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v42/i6/p1960_1
- T. Vachaspati and A. Vilenkin . 1985 . Gravitational radiation from cosmic strings . Phys.Rev. . D31 . 3052–3058 http://prd.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v31/i12/p3052_1
- Tammay Vachaspati and Alexander Vilenkin . 1984 . Formation and evolution of cosmic strings . Phys. Rev. . D30 . 2036–2045 http://prd.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v30/i10/p2036_1
Research Activity
- Krauss,Lawrence Maxwell*, Krauss,Lawrence Maxwell*, Easson,Damien, Parikh,Maulik Kirit, Vachaspati,Tanmay. Theoretical Research at the High Energy Frontier. DOE-OS(4/1/2015 - 3/31/2016).
- Krauss,Lawrence Maxwell*, Krauss,Lawrence Maxwell*, Easson,Damien, Parikh,Maulik Kirit, Vachaspati,Tanmay. Theoretical Research at the High Energy Frontier: Cosmology and Beyond. DOE-CHICAGO(8/15/2012 - 3/31/2015).
- Krauss,Lawrence Maxwell*, Krauss,Lawrence Maxwell*, Parikh,Maulik Kirit, Vachaspati,Tanmay. Theoretical Research at the High Energy Frontier: Cosmology, Neutrinos and Beyond. DOE-CHICAGO(8/15/2009 - 8/14/2012).
Courses
2026 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 493 | Honors Thesis |
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 799 | Dissertation |
| PHY 500 | Research Methods |
| PHY 484 | Internship |
| PHY 484 | Internship |
| PHY 484 | Internship |
| PHY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
| PHY 500 | Research Methods |
| PHY 700 | Research Methods |
| PHY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| PHY 495 | Project Research |
2025 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 799 | Dissertation |
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 792 | Research |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 493 | Honors Thesis |
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 799 | Dissertation |
| PHY 302 | Mathematical Mthds Physics II |
| PHY 598 | Special Topics |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 799 | Dissertation |
| PHY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| PHY 302 | Mathematical Mthds Physics II |
2024 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 799 | Dissertation |
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 792 | Research |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 493 | Honors Thesis |
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 799 | Dissertation |
| PHY 302 | Mathematical Mthds Physics II |
| PHY 315 | Quantum Physics II |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
2023 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 799 | Dissertation |
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 792 | Research |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 493 | Honors Thesis |
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 799 | Dissertation |
| PHY 302 | Mathematical Mthds Physics II |
| PHY 315 | Quantum Physics II |
| PHY 315 | Quantum Physics II |
| PHY 799 | Dissertation |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| PHY 314 | Quantum Physics I |
2022 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 799 | Dissertation |
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 792 | Research |
2022 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 493 | Honors Thesis |
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 799 | Dissertation |
| PHY 302 | Mathematical Mthds Physics II |
| PHY 315 | Quantum Physics II |
| PHY 315 | Quantum Physics II |
2021 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| PHY 314 | Quantum Physics I |
2021 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 799 | Dissertation |
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 792 | Research |
2021 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PHY 792 | Research |
| PHY 799 | Dissertation |
| PHY 576 | Quantum Theory |
Presentations
- Tanmay Vachaspati. Cosmological Frontiers in Fundamental Physics. Cosmology Conference, Perimeter Institute (Jul 2013).
- Tanmay Vachaspati. Quantum Excitations in Time Dependent Backgrounds. MIT seminar (Mar 2013).
- Tanmay Vachaspati. Topological evolution in gauge theories and cosmology. Quatized Flux in Tightly Knotted Systems (Dec 2012).
- Tanmay Vachaspati. Gravitational Collapse. Seminar, ASU (Dec 2012).
- Tanmay Vachaspati. Superconducting strings. Searching for Cosmic Strings in New Observational Windows, McGill University (Oct 2012).
- Tanmay Vachaspati. Creation of Solitons. Seminar, ASU (Sep 2012).
- Tanmay Vachaspati. Sphalerons, turbulence, and magnetic fields. P- and CP-odd Effects in Hot and Dense Matter (2012), Brookhaven National Laboratory (Jul 2012).
- Tanmay Vachaspati. Cosmic Magnetic Fields. Seminar, Perimeter Institute (Apr 2012).
- Tanmay Vachaspati. Cosmic Magnetic Fields. Coming Opportunities in Physical Cosmology (Jan 2012).
- Tanmay Vachaspati. Magnetic Fields in the Early Universe -- Chiral Effects and Topology. Quantised Flux in Tightly Knotted and Linked Systems, Isaac Newton Institute (Jan 2012).
- Tanmay Vachaspati. Radio Bursts from Superconducting Strings. Seminar at Tufts University (Nov 2011).
- Tanmay Vachaspati. Cosmic Magnetic Fields. Seminar at Simon Fraser University (Sep 2011).
- Tanmay Vachaspati. Cosmic Magnetic Fields. Seminar at CITA, Toronto (Jul 2011).
- Tanmay Vachaspati. Topological Defects. Lecture at school on Prospects in Theoretical Physics, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (Jul 2011).
Service
- Cosmology Initiative, Director (2010 - Present)