Joanne Cohn is an American astrophysicist known for her work in

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

and

particle physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the s ...

. She is also known for her role in the creation of the ArXiv.org e-print archive. Cohn is a Senior Space Fellow and Full Researcher in the Space Sciences Lab at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

Early life and education

Cohn grew up in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. After learning about

special relativity In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory of the relationship between Spacetime, space and time. In Albert Einstein's 1905 paper, Annus Mirabilis papers#Special relativity, "On the Ele ...

around the age of 11, she knew she wanted to become a physicist. After graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver, she attended Harvard University where she worked with Darby L. Winn on the Harvard-Wisconsin-Purdue proton decay experiment. Cohn also contributed to the MAC ee detector at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

with William Ford, which would later be used in the

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Menlo Park, California, Menlo Park, Ca ...

. Cohn graduated summa cum laude from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1983 with an A.B. in physics. She earned her Ph.D. in 1988 from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, where she wrote her dissertation on

superstring theory Superstring theory is an attempt to explain all of the particles and fundamental forces of nature in one theory by modeling them as vibrations of tiny supersymmetric strings. 'Superstring theory' is a shorthand for supersymmetric string t ...

with her advisors Daniel Friedan and Stephen Shenker.

Career and awards

After earning her Ph.D., Cohn was a member of the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

at Princeton from 1988 until 1991, when she joined the

Fermilab Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located in Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a United States Department of Energy United States Department of Energy National Labs, national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle phys ...

Particle Theory Group as a research associate until 1993. She was then a postdoctoral research physicist at the University of California, Berkeley until 1996, after which she spent a year as a Bunting Fellow at Radcliffe College, Harvard University. In 1997, she accepted a position in the department of astronomy and physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a visiting research assistant professor. Between 1999 and 2002, Cohn was associated with the Harvard College Observatory. In 2002, Cohn returned to Berkeley as a lecturer, eventually attaining the ranks of senior fellow and assistant researcher in 2002, associate researcher in 2008, and full researcher in 2013. Presently, Cohn is a senior space fellow and full researcher in the space sciences lab at the

. Cohn has received several awards and grants, including: * 4 Department of Energy Research Grants (2007, 2008, 2012, 2013) * National Science Foundation EXC Research Grant (2002) * National Science Foundation POWRE Award (2000) * National Science Foundation Career Advancement Award (1997) * Bunting Fellowship, Radcliffe College (1996) * Claire Booth Luce Fellowship, Henry Luce Foundation (1989, 1990) * Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellowship (1985, 1986, 1987) * McCormick Fellowship, University of Chicago (1983 - 1986)

Research

Cohn's current research interests focus on physical cosmology, including structure formation, galaxy formation and evolution. She has also worked on analytic methods for baryon oscillations, strong

gravitational lens A gravitational lens is matter, such as a galaxy cluster, cluster of galaxies or a point particle, that bends light from a distant source as it travels toward an observer. The amount of gravitational lensing is described by Albert Einstein's Ge ...

ing analyses of systems, and issues related to analyzing cluster correlation functions. In her early career, Cohn worked on early universe field theory and

string theory In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and intera ...

. She has received grants from the Department of Energy and the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

Connection with ArXiv

Between 1989 and 1991, Cohn maintained an

electronic mailing list A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. Mailing lists are often rented or sold. If rented, the renter agrees to use the mailing list only at contra ...

for sharing theoretical physics preprints or "e-prints" for an informal group of string theorists. At a chance encounter at the Aspen Center for Physics in the summer of 1991,

Paul Ginsparg Paul Henry Ginsparg is an American physicist. He developed the arXiv.org e-print archive. Education He is a graduate of Syosset High School in Syosset, New York, on Long Island. He graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in ...

, then at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, asked Cohn why she had yet to automate her email list. He volunteered to create an automated system for sharing preprints, and by the next day had some sample scripts that he showed to Cohn. Two months later, the Los Alamos ArXiv, which now resides at Cornell University, was created. This system has developed into the

arXiv arXiv (pronounced as "archive"—the X represents the Chi (letter), Greek letter chi ⟨χ⟩) is an open-access repository of electronic preprints and postprints (known as e-prints) approved for posting after moderation, but not Scholarly pee ...

, a preprint server, that is used millions of times per day by scientists across many fields, not only physics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohn, Joanne 21st-century American physicists Living people Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni University of Chicago alumni American women physicists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women scientists Aspen Center for Physics people