John Michael Kovac (born 1970) is an American physicist and astronomer. His cosmology research, conducted at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, focuses on observations of the

Cosmic Microwave Background In Big Bang cosmology the cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR) is electromagnetic radiation that is a remnant from an early stage of the universe, also known as "relic radiation". The CMB is faint cosmic background radiation filling all spac ...

(CMB) to reveal signatures of the physics that drove the birth of the universe, the creation of its structure, and its present-day expansion. Currently, Kovac is Professor of Astronomy and Physics at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Education and early life

Kovac was born in Princeton, New Jersey. He attended Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida. He received a bachelor's degree in Mathematics from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He went on to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

to receive a Masters and Doctorate in Physics in 2004. His thesis advisor was

John Carlstrom John E. Carlstrom (born 1957) is an American astrophysicist, and Professor, Departments of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Physics, at the University of Chicago. He graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in 1981, and from the University of Cal ...

Career

He was the principal investigator of the

BICEP2 BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) and the Keck Array are a series of cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. They aim to measure the polarization of the CMB; in particular, measuring the ''B''-mode of the CMB ...

telescope, which was part of the

BICEP and Keck Array BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) and the Keck Array are a series of cosmic microwave background (CMB) List of cosmic microwave background experiments, experiments. They aim to measure the Polarization in astronomy, p ...

series of experiments. Measurements announced on 17 March 2014 from the BICEP2 telescope appeared to support the idea of cosmic

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

, by reporting the first evidence for a primordial B-Mode pattern in the polarization of the CMB. Further analysis revealed this result to be spurious, and that the signal had been contaminated by

interstellar dust Cosmic dust, also called extraterrestrial dust, star dust or space dust, is dust which exists in outer space, or has fallen on Earth. Most cosmic dust particles measure between a few molecules and 0.1 mm (100 micrometers). Larger particles are c ...

in the Milky Way. Prior to BICEP2, as a graduate student at the

, Kovac worked on the

Degree Angular Scale Interferometer The Degree Angular Scale Interferometer (DASI) was a telescope installed at the U.S. National Science Foundation's Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. It was a 13-element interferometer operating between 26 and 36 GHz (Ka band ...

led by

, which in 2002 announced the first detection of polarization in the CMB. In 2003, Kovac moved to Caltech as a Millikan Postdoctoral Fellow, beginning work under

Andrew Lange Andrew E. Lange (July 23, 1957 – January 22, 2010)Janette WilliamsAndrew Lange, noted universe researcher at Caltech, dies ''Pasadena Star-News''. Retrieved on January 26, 2010. was an astrophysicist and Goldberger Professor of Physics at th ...

on the QUaD telescope and on BICEP1, the predecessor of BICEP2. After BICEP1's deployment to the South Pole in 2006, at Lange's invitation Kovac joined the research faculty of Caltech as a Kilroy Fellow and led the team that proposed BICEP2. In 2009 Kovac joined the faculty at Harvard University.

Awards

In 2013 Kovac received the National Science Foundation Career Award. He was a recipient of the 2014

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. The White ...

. In 2011 Kovac was selected as a

Sloan Research Fellow The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This program is one of the oldest of its kind in the United States. ...

. He was awarded the 2002–2003 Sugarman Award by the

Enrico Fermi Institute __NOTOC__ The Institute for Nuclear Studies was founded September 1945 as part of the University of Chicago with Samuel King Allison as director. On November 20, 1955, it was renamed The Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies. The name was s ...

References

External links

Department of Astronomy - Harvard UniversityCMB Group Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovac, John M. American people of Czech descent American astrophysicists 1970 births Living people Princeton University alumni University of Chicago alumni Harvard University faculty Jesuit High School (Tampa) alumni Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers