About my Research
In simple words
The main focus of my research is on the characteristic oscillation modes of compact objects, such as neutron stars and black holes.
Different compact objects have different spectra and similar to atom spectroscopy or seismic studies of Earth, one can potentially learn a lot about the objects from the knowledge and correct interpretation of their spectrum.
While theoretical studies of gravitational wave emission have been investigated for a long time, observational access to gravitational waves is a recent and revolutionary progress in physics. My specific line of research is on the question about how the knowledge of characteristic oscillation modes can be used to reconstruct properties of the source, thus to solve the inverse problem. With further improvements of gravitational wave observatories, the spectroscopy of compact objects is in reach soon. Recently I have been working on using the shadow of black holes to test general relativity and studied rotating neutron stars from their characteristic oscillations. An explanation of my research and the one of the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics can also be found in this podcast.
A little bit more technical
In most of my works I have studied the quasi-normal mode spectrum of compact objects, including neutron stars [6], models of ultra compact alternatives [1,2,5], and black hole space-times beyond general relativity [8]. These works are all within perturbation theory. In order to address the inverse quasi-normal mode problem, I have explored semi-analytic methods, such as WKB, to constrain the perturbation potentials and case dependent also parts of the metric and other properties of the objects. Furthermore I have conducted research projects on gravitational wave parameter estimation [3], Hawking radiation [7] and black hole area quantization [9,15]. Currently I am extending the inverse spectrum methods to address more complex systems and work on gravitational wave parameter estimation using Bayesian analysis [10,16,18]. I have also been working on using the shadow of the supermassive black holes to test strong-field general relativity [11,14]. Recent work includes Bayesian inference to relate neutron star oscillations with their parameters [13,17,23]. After moving to the Albert Einstein Institute, I started working on analyzing the black hole ringdown overtone problem [21], on advanced techniques for the computation of quasi-normal [19,20,22], and on quantifying state-of-the-art gravitational waveform models for current and next generation detectors [25].
Latest News
2024
- 04 Oct
- Phys. Rev. D accepted our new study on A parametrized quasi-normal mode framework for modified Teukolsky equations for publication.
- 25 Sep
- Phys. Rev. D published our paper on the Inverse problem of analog gravity systems II: rotation and energy-dependent boundary conditions.
- 10 Sep
- Our new study on Higher-derivative corrections to the Kerr quasinormal mode spectrum was submitted to the arxiv.
- 02 Sep
- Gave a talk at KDK@65: A symposium in honour of Kostas Kokkotas Ermoupolis, Syros, Greece.
- 23 Aug
- Participated at the Ringdown Inside and Out Workshop in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- 24 July
- Public git repository for the parametrized quasi-normal mode framework is now available.
- 10 July
- Our invited review on Testing General Relativity with Black Hole Quasi-normal Modes has been published by Springer.
- 8 July
- Gave a talk at the
Astrophysics Colloquium at the Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Tübingen, Germany.
- 4 July
- Gave a talk at the Space Science @ Drop Tower seminar at the Center Of Applied Space Technology And Microgravity (ZARM), Bremen, Germany.
- 18 June
- Gave a talk at the Continuous gravitational waves and neutron stars workshop, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Hannover, Germany.
- 13 May
- Phys. Rev. D published our paper on Inverse problem in energy-dependent potentials using semiclassical methods.
- 04 May
- Participated at the Potsdamer Tag der Wissenschaften/Potsdam Science Day.
- 11 Apr
- Gave a talk for the Gravity Group at the University of Mississippi, Oxford Mississippi, USA (remote).
- 10 Apr
- Our paper on Systematic Biases in Estimating the Properties of Black Holes Due to Inaccurate Gravitational-Wave Models was submitted to the arxiv.
- 13 Mar
- Gave a talk at the DPG Spring Meeting 2024, University of Gießen, Germany.
- 26-27 Feb
- Gave a lecture series on introduction to general relativity at the 2024 Jürgen Ehlers Spring School on Gravitational Physics, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Potsdam, Germany.
- 13 Feb
- Gave a talk at the Black Holes: from the Universe to the Lab Workshop, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.
- 07 Feb
- Gave an outreach talk at the Urania Planetarium, Potsdam, Germany.
2023
- 20 Dec
- Phys. Rev. D published our paper on Rapidly rotating neutron stars: Universal relations and EOS inference.
- 19 Dec
- Phys. Rev. D published our paper on The Inverse Problem of Analog Gravity Systems.
- 09 Nov
- Gave a talk at the Galaxy Coffee, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany.
- 07 Nov
- Gave a talk at the Astrocoffee, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany.
- 11 Oct
- Gave a talk at the workshop on Nonlinear Aspects of General Relativity, Princeton University, USA.
- 05 Oct
- Gave a seminar for the group of Emanuele Berti at Johns Hopkins University, USA.
- 07 Sep
- Gave a talk at the XXV SIGRAV Conference, Trieste, Italy.
- 16 Aug
- Phys. Rev. D published our paper on Role of black hole quasinormal mode overtones for ringdown analysis.
- 19 Jul
- Gave a talk at the Amaldi15: Premier International Conference on Gravitational Waves (online).
- 17 Jul
- Phys. Rev. D published our paper on Quasi-normal modes of non-separable perturbation equations: the scalar non-Kerr case.
- 14 Jul
- Recorded a podcast on our research at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics.
- 12 Jul
- Gave a talk for the Einstein Seminar of the Theoretical Astrophysics Group at the University of Tübingen, Germany.
- 30 Jun
- Phys. Rev. D published our paper on A parametrized quasi-normal mode framework for non-Schwarzschild metrics.
- 29 Jun
- Gave an invited talk at the
DPG-Lehrerfortbildung on gravitational waves in Bad Honnef, Germany.
- 14-16 Jun
- Organized the workshop
Connecting the dots: Toward inspiral-merger-ringdown gravitational waveforms beyond general relativity, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Potsdam, Germany.
- 17 May
- Participated at the outreach event „Universe on Tour – Licht aus! Sterne an!“, Luisenplatz Potsdam, Germany.
- 10 May
- Participated at the outreach event for members of the German Bundestag on the ship MS Wissenschaft, Berlin, Germany.
- 06 May
- Participated at the Potsdamer Tag der Wissenschaften/Potsdam Science Day.
- 22 Mar
- Gave a talk at the DPG Spring Meeting of the Matter and Cosmos Section (SMuK) University of Dresden, Germany.
- 28 Jan
- Our proposal to the Gravity Theory Trust to organize a workshop at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) has been approved.
Curriculum Vitae
Academic Track Record
- Postdoc
- 2022-now, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Potsdam, Germany
- Postdoc
- 2019-2022, SISSA and IFPU, Trieste, Italy
- PhD Stud.
- 2017-2019, University of Tübingen, Germany
- MSc Stud.
- 2015-2016, University of Tübingen, Germany
- BSc Stud.
- 2011-2015, University of Tübingen, Germany
PhD Thesis
-
- Title
On the Gravitational Wave Spectrum of Compact Relativistic Objects
- Institution
University of Tübingen, Germany
- Superv.
Prof. Dr. Kostas D. Kokkotas and Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Kley
- Ext. Exam.
Prof. Dr. Emanuele Berti (Johns Hopkins University, USA)
- Grade
summa cum laude
- Awards
Received the Promotionspreis of the University of Tübingen 2021
- Mentions
Selected for finals of DPG Section Matter and Cosmos Dissertation Prize 2021
Honorable mention for GWIC-Braccini Thesis Prize 2020
-
Link to published thesis, submitted 2019, accepted 2020
Publications
Regular Articles
- [29]
- Higher-derivative corrections to the Kerr quasinormal mode spectrum
Pablo A. Cano, Lodovico Capuano, Nicola Franchini, Simon Maenaut, and Sebastian H. Völkel
Link to arxiv
- [28]
- A parametrized quasi-normal mode framework for modified Teukolsky equations
Pablo A. Cano, Lodovico Capuano, Nicola Franchini, Simon Maenaut, and Sebastian H. Völkel
Accepted in Phys. Rev. D, 2024
Link to arxiv
- [27]
- Inverse problem of analog gravity systems II: rotation and energy-dependent boundary conditions
Saulo Albuquerque, Sebastian H. Völkel, Kostas D. Kokkotas and Valdir B. Bezerra
Phys. Rev. D 110, 064084, 2024
Link to arxiv and journal
- [26]
- Inverse problem in energy-dependent potentials using semi-classical methods
Saulo Albuquerque, Sebastian H. Völkel and Kostas D. Kokkotas
Phys. Rev. D 109, 096014, 2024
Link to arxiv and journal
- [25]
- Systematic Biases in Estimating the Properties of Black Holes Due to Inaccurate Gravitational-Wave Models
Arnab Dhani, Sebastian Völkel, Alessandra Buonanno, Hector Estelles, Jonathan Gair, Harald P. Pfeiffer, Lorenzo Pompili, Alexandre Toubiana
in review
Link to arxiv
- [24]
- Inverse Problem of Analog Gravity Systems
Saulo Albuquerque, Sebastian H. Völkel, Kostas D. Kokkotas and Valdir B. Bezerra
Phys. Rev. D 108, 124053, 2023
Link to arxiv and journal
- [23]
- Rapidly rotating neutron stars: Universal relations and EOS inference
Christian J. Krüger and Sebastian H. Völkel
Phys. Rev. D 108, 124056, 2023
Link to arxiv and journal
- [22]
- Quasi-normal modes of non-separable perturbation equations: the scalar non-Kerr case
Rajes Ghosh, Nicola Franchini, Sebastian H. Völkel and Enrico Barausse
Phys. Rev. D 108, 024038, 2023
Link to arxiv and journal
- [21]
- Role of black hole quasinormal mode overtones for ringdown analysis
Peter James Nee, Sebastian H. Völkel and Harald P. Pfeiffer
Phys. Rev. D 108, 044032, 2023
Link to arxiv and journal
- [20]
- A parametrized quasi-normal mode framework for non-Schwarzschild metrics
Nicola Franchini and Sebastian H. Völkel
Phys. Rev. D 107, 124063, 2023
Link to arxiv and journal
- [19]
- Quasi-Normal Modes from Bound States: The Numerical Approach
Sebastian H. Völkel
Phys. Rev. D 106, 124009, 2022
Link to arxiv and journal
- [18]
- Constraining modifications of black hole perturbation potentials near the light ring with quasinormal modes
Sebastian H. Völkel, Nicola Franchini, Enrico Barausse and Emanuele Berti
Phys. Rev. D 106, 124036, 2022
Link to arxiv and journal
- [17]
- Constraining the Nuclear Equation of State from Rotating Neutron Stars
Sebastian H. Völkel and Christian J. Krüger
Phys. Rev. D 105, 124071, 2022
Link to arxiv and journal
- [16]
- Theory-agnostic Reconstruction of Potential and Couplings from Quasi-Normal Modes
Sebastian H. Völkel, Nicola Franchini and Enrico Barausse
Phys. Rev. D 105, 084046, 2022
Link to arxiv and journal
- [15]
- On Black Hole Area Quantization and Echoes
Andrew Coates, Sebastian H. Völkel, and Kostas D. Kokkotas
Class. Quantum Grav., 39 045007, 2022
Link to arxiv and journal
- [14]
- Separating Astrophysics and Geometry in Black Hole Images
Guillermo Lara, Sebastian H. Völkel, and Enrico Barausse
Phys. Rev. D 104, 124041, 2021
Link to arxiv and journal
- [13]
- Bayesian inverse problem of rotating neutron stars
Sebastian H. Völkel, Christian J. Krüger and Kostas D. Kokkotas
Phys. Rev. D 103, 083008, 2021
Link to arxiv and journal
- [12]
- An exact theory for the Rezzolla-Zhidenko metric and self-consistent calculation of quasi-normal modes
Arthur G. Suvorov and Sebastian H. Völkel
Phys. Rev. D 103, 044027, 2021
Link to arxiv and journal
- [11]
- EHT tests of the strong-field regime of General Relativity
Sebastian H. Völkel, Enrico Barausse, Nicola Franchini and Avery E. Broderick
Class. Quantum Grav. 38, 21LT01, 2021
Link to arxiv and journal
- [10]
- Bayesian Metric Reconstruction with Gravitational Wave Observations
Sebastian H. Völkel and Enrico Barausse
Phys. Rev. D 102, 084025, 2020
Link to arxiv and journal
- [9]
- Spectral lines of quantized, spinning black holes and their astrophysical relevanceAndrew Coates, Sebastian H. Völkel and Kostas D. KokkotasPhys. Rev. Lett. 123, 171104, 2019Link to arxiv and journal
- [8]
- Scalar fields and parametrized spherically symmetric black holes: Can one hear the shape of space-time?Sebastian H. Völkel and Kostas D. KokkotasPhys. Rev. D 100, 044026, 2019Link to arxiv and journal
- [7]
- The Inverse Problem for Hawking RadiationSebastian H. Völkel, Roman Konoplya and Kostas D. KokkotasPhys. Rev. D 99, 104025, 2019Link to arxiv and journal
- [6]
- On the Inverse Spectrum Problem of Neutron StarsSebastian H. Völkel and Kostas D. KokkotasClassical and Quantum Gravity 36, 115002, 2019Link to arxiv and journal
- [5]
- Wormhole Potentials and Throats from Quasi-Normal ModesSebastian H. Völkel and Kostas D. KokkotasClassical and Quantum Gravity 35, 105018, 2018Link to arxiv and journal
- [4]
- Inverse spectrum problem for quasi-stationary statesSebastian H. VölkelJournal of Physics Communications 2, 025029, 2018Link to arxiv and journal
- [3]
- Parameter estimation of gravitational wave echoes from exotic compact objectsAndrea Maselli, Sebastian H. Völkel and Kostas D. KokkotasPhys. Rev. D 96, 064045, 2017Link to arxiv and journal
- [2]
- Ultra Compact Stars: Reconstructing the Perturbation PotentialSebastian H. Völkel and Kostas D. KokkotasClassical and Quantum Gravity 34, 175015, 2017Link to arxiv and journal
- [1]
- A Semi-analytic Study of Axial Perturbations of Ultra Compact StarsSebastian H. Völkel and Kostas D. KokkotasClassical and Quantum Gravity 34, 125006, 2017Link to arxiv and journal
Reviews
- [R.2]
- Testing General Relativity with Black Hole Quasi-Normal Modes
Nicola Franchini and Sebastian H. Völkel,
Invited chapter for the book "Recent Progress on Gravity Tests"In: Bambi, C., Cárdenas-Avendaño, A. (eds) Recent Progress on Gravity Tests. Springer Series in Astrophysics and Cosmology. Springer, Singapore.
Link to arxiv and journal
- [R.1]
- Fast Rotating Neutron Stars: Oscillations and Instabilities
Christian J. Krüger, Kostas D. Kokkotas, Praveen Manoharan and Sebastian H. Völkel,
Front. Astron. Space Sci. 8, 166, 2021
Link to arxiv and journal
Proceedings
- [Pr.1]
- Hearing the Nature of Compact ObjectsSebastian H. Völkel and Kostas D. KokkotasEinstein Equations: Physical and Mathematical Aspects of General Relativity. DOMOSCHOOL 2018Link to the proceedings
Multi-author
- [Ma.1]
- Prospects for Fundamental Physics with LISAEnrico Barausse et al.Gen. Rel. Grav. 52, 81, 2020Link to the journal
Outreach and Others
- [OP.4]
- EHT tests of the strong-field regime of General RelativitySebastian H. Völkel and Nicola FranchiniERC GRAMS blog, October 13, 2021Link to the blog
- [OP.3]
- 69. Lindau Nobel Laureate MeetingVictoria Grinberg, Olaf Kramer, Christian Strandhagen, Sebastian H. Völkelattempto online, 24.07.2019 Link to the blog
- [OP.2]
- The Sound of Exotic Astrophysical "Instruments"Sebastian H. Völkel and Kostas D. KokkotasCQG+, May 28, 2018Link to the blog
- [OP.1]
- Can one hear the shape of an ultra compact object?Sebastian H. Völkel and Kostas D. KokkotasCQG+, October 2, 2017Link to the blog
Talks and Posters
Invited Talks, Seminars and Colloquia
- [ST.23]
-
KDK@65: A symposium in honour of
Kostas Kokkotas
2. Sep 2024, Ermoupolis, Syros, Greece
- [ST.22]
-
University of Tübingen
Astrophysics Colloquium
8. July 2024, Tübingen, Germany
- [ST.21]
-
Center Of Applied Space Technology And Microgravity (ZARM)
Space Science @ Drop Tower seminar
4. July 2024, Bremen, Germany
- [ST.20]
-
University of Mississippi
Gravity Group
11. April 2024, Oxford Mississippi, USA (remotely)
- [ST.19]
-
University of Nottingham
Black Holes: from the Universe to the Lab Workshop
13. February 2024, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- [ST.18]
-
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Galaxy coffee
09. November 2023, Heidelberg, Germany
- [ST.17]
-
Goethe University Frankfurt
Astrocoffee
07. November 2023, Frankfurt, Germany
- [ST.16]
-
Johns Hopkins University
Group of Emanuele Berti
06. October 2023, Baltimore, USA
- [ST.15]
-
University of Tübingen
Einstein Seminar
12. July 2023, Tübingen, Germany
- [ST.14]
-
DPG Physikzentrum
Lehrerfortbildung zu Gravitationswellen
29. June 2023, Bad Honnef, Germany
- [ST.13]
-
INFN TEONGRAV
monthly online seminar
28. April 2022, Italy (online)
- [ST.12]
-
Fudan University
Group of Cosimo Bambi
29. March 2022, China (online)
- [ST.11]
-
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Group of Nicolas Yunes
23. March 2022, USA (online)
- [ST.10]
-
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Strong Gravity Seminar
24. February 2022, Waterloo, Canada (online)
- [ST.9]
-
University of Tübingen
Theoretical Astrophysics Tübingen
18. Novemer 2021, Tübingen, Germany (hybrid)
- [ST.8]
-
DPG Section Matter and Cosmos Meeting 2021
Dissertation Prize Symposium
30. August 2021, Jena, Germany (remotely)
- [ST.7]
-
University of Tübingen
Mathematical Physics Colloquium
07. July 2021, Tübingen, Germany (remotely)
- [ST.6]
-
Sapienza University of Rome
Virtual Gravity seminar
19. October 2020, Rome, Italy, (remotely)
- [ST.5]
-
Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
ACR seminar
30. September 2020, Potsdam, Germany, (remotely)
- [ST.4]
-
Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (IAP)
GReCO seminar
28. September 2020, Paris, France, (remotely)
- [ST.3]
-
University of Tübingen
Theoretical Astrophysics Tübingen
09. July 2020, Tübingen, Germany, (remotely)
- [ST.2]
-
Goethe University Frankfurt and Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies
AstroCoffee
07. July 2020, Frankfurt, Germany, (remotely)
- [ST.1]
-
University of Southampton
Gravity seminar
30. April 2020, Southampton, United Kingdom, (remotely)
Contributions to Conferences, Workshops and Schools
- [T.26]
- Universal relations and equation-of-state inference for rapidly rotating neutron starsPresented my work at the Continuous gravitational waves and neutron stars workshop, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Hannover, Germany.
- [T.25]
- Constraining the nuclear equation of state from rotating neutron starsPresented my work at the DPG Spring Meeting 2024 13. March 2024, University of Gießen, Germany.
- [T.24]
- Confronting black hole spectroscopy with the ringdownPresented my work at Nonlinear Aspects of General Relativity 11. October 2023, Princeton University, USA.
- [T.23]
- Constraining modifications of black hole perturbation potentials near the light ring with quasinormal modesPresented my work at XXV SIGRAV Conference07. September 2023, Trieste, Italy.
- [T.22]
- Constraining modifications of black hole perturbation potentials near the light ring with quasinormal modesPresented my work at Amaldi15: Premier International Conference on Gravitational Waves19. July 2023, (online).
- [T.21]
- Constraining modifications of black hole perturbation potentials near the light ring with quasinormal modesPresented my work at the DPG Spring Meeting of the Matter and Cosmos Section (SMuK)23. Mar 2023, Technical University Dresden, Germany.
- [T.20]
- Probing Black Holes with Quasi-Normal ModesPresented my work at the INFN TEONGRAV annual meeting22. July 2022, Arcetri, Florence, Italy (remotely).
- [T.19]
- Constraining the Nuclear Equation of State from Rotating Neutron StarsPresented my work at the ECT* Workshop: Neutron stars as multi-messenger laboratories for dense matter20. June 2022, ECT*, Villa Tambosi, Trento, Italy.
- [T.18]
- Probing Black Holes with Quasi-Normal ModesPresented my work at the EuCAPT Workshop: Gravitational wave probes of black hole environments 17. June 2022, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
- [T.17]
- Probing Black Holes with Quasi-Normal Modes and Shadows Presented my work at Atlantic General Relativity 2022 (1st prize) 19. May 2022, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada (remotely).
- [T.16]
- Constraining black holes with quasi-normal modesPresented my work at the 31st Midwest Relativity Meeting11. Nov 2021, University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, USA (remotely)
- [T.15]
- Reconstructing black hole metrics with gravitational waves and shadowsPresented my work at the 14th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves22. Jul 2021, Australia (remotely)
- [T.14]
- Metric reconstruction with gravitational waves and shadowsPresented my work at the Meeting of the National Research Group on Gravitational Waves01. Apr 2021, Paris, France (remotely)
- [T.13]
- Metric reconstruction with gravitational waves and shadowsPresented my work at the INFN TEONGRAV Workshop 202118. Feb 2021, Italy (remotely)
- [T.12]
- Metric reconstruction with gravitational waves and shadowsPresented my work at the XIII Black Holes Workshop21. Dec 2020, Lisbon, Portugal (remotely)
- [T.11]
- Master Class of Brian P. SchmidtPresented my field at the "69th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting"03. July 2019, Lindau, Germany
- [T.10]
- Hearing the Nature of Compact ObjectsPresented my research at Gravitational Waves, Black Holes and Fundamental Physics23. January 2019, Athens, Greece
- [T.9]
- Probing the Nature of Compact Objects with QNMsOverview talk at the 3rd HEL.A.S. SUMMER SCHOOL AND DAAD SCHOOL08. October 2018, Thessaloniki, Greece
- [T.8]
- The Sound of Relativistic ObjectsOverview talk at the Kepler Center PhD Workshop 201826 September 2018, Obermarchtal, Germany
- [T.7]
- Probing the Nature of Compact Objects with QNMsPresented my research at NEB1821 September 2018, Rhodes, Greece
- [T.6]
- Hearing the Nature of Compact ObjectsPresented my research at Domoschool 201819 July 2018, Domodossola, Italy
- [T.5]
- From Compact Objects to Quasi-Normal Modes and BackPresentation of my current research at the X Black Holes Workshop18 December 2017, Aveiro, Portugal
- [T.4]
- Exotic Compact ObjectsLecture for the DAAD Winter School: Neutron Stars in the Era of Gravitational Waves30 November 2017, Thessaloniki, Greece
- [T.3]
- From Compact Objects to Quasi-Normal Modes and BackGeneral talk about my current research status at the University's Kepler PhD Workshop29 September 2017, Freudenstadt-Lauterbad, Germany
- [T.2]
- From Compact Objects to Quasi-Normal Modes and BackPresentation of my research papers [1-3] at the 9th Aegean Summer School 22 September 2017, Sifnos, Greece
- [T.1]
- Gravitational Waves from Compact ObjectsGeneral talk about my Master thesis at the University's Kepler PhD Workshop5 October 2016, Freudenstadt-Lauterbad, Germany
Outreach Activities
- [O.10]
- Potsdamer Tag der Wissenschaften/Potsdam Science DayExplained the research carried out at the Albert Einstein Instiute to the public.04 May 2024, Wissenschaftspark "Albert Einstein", Potsdam, Germany
- [O.9]
- Gave an invited outreach talk on gravitational waves and compact objects at the Urania Planetarium. 07 February 2024, Urania Planetarium, Potsdam, Germany
- [O.8]
- I recorded a podcast on our research at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics.2023, Germany
- [O.7]
- „Universe on Tour – Licht aus! Sterne an!“Explained the research carried out at the Albert Einstein Instiute to the public.17 May 2023, Luisenplatz Potsdam, Germany
- [O.6]
- MS WissenschaftOutreach event for members of the German Bundestag.10 May 2023, MS Wissenschaft Berlin, Germany
- [O.5]
- Potsdamer Tag der Wissenschaften/Potsdam Science DayExplained the research carried out at the Albert Einstein Instiute to the public.06 May 2023, University of Potsdam, Germany
- [O.4]
- Open door day of the Potsdam Science ParkExplained the research carried out at the Albert Einstein Instiute to the public.03 September 2022, Albert Einstein Instiute, Potsdam, Germany
- [O.3]
- Gravitationswellen und kompakte Objekte: Einsteins kosmisches OrchesterInvited talk at the Arbeitskreis Astronomie08 January 2020, University of Stuttgart, Germany
- [O.2]
- The Sound of Black HolesMy contribution to the Science Slam at the Doctoral Candidates’ Convention21 February 2018, University of Tübingen, Germany
- [O.1]
- Gravitationswellen von kompakten ObjektenGeneral poster about my research at the open day of the Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics04 November 2017, Tübingen, Germany
Posters
- [P.4]
- Metric Reconstruction with Gravitational Waves and Shadows On recent publications [10, 11] at the workshop Gravitational Waves: a new messenger to explore the universe01 -- 12 Mar 2021, Paris, France (online)
- [P.3]
- Metric Reconstruction with Gravitational Waves and Shadows On recent publications [10, 11] at the 740. WE-Heraeus-Seminar: Experimental Tests and Signatures of Modified and Quantum Gravity01 February 2021, Bad Honnef, Germany (online)
- [P.2]
- From Compact Objects to Quasi-Normal Modes and BackPresentation of my current status of research at the NewCompStar School 201714 September 2017, Sofia, Bulgaria
- [P.1]
- From Compact Objects to Quasi-Normal Modes and BackPresentation of my current status of research at the 641. WE-Heraeus-Seminar: Do Black Holes Exist? - The Physics and Philosophy of Black Holes25 April 2017, Bad Honnef, Germany
Work as Referee
I worked as referee for the following journals:
- Physical Review Letters
- Physical Review D
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP)
- General Relativity and Gravitation
- International Journal of Modern Physics D
- The European Physical Journal C
- The European Physical Journal Plus
- Universe
- Galaxies
Teaching
I gave lectures about:
- 2024
- Introduction to General Relativity4x90 minutes lectures + 2x90 minutes exercises at the 2024 Jürgen Ehlers Spring School on Gravitational PhysicsMax Planck Institute for Gravitationak Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Potsdam, Germany
- SS19
- Gravitational Waves in CosmologyAdditional hours (2x90 minutes) for the Observational Cosmology lectureUniversity of Tübingen, Germany
I worked as tutor to discuss weekly exercises with a class of students for the following lectures:
- WS17/18
- Theoretical Mechanics and Introduction to Quantum MechanicsUniversity of Tübingen, Germany
- SS17
- ElectromagnetismUniversity of Tübingen, Germany
- SS16
- Observational CosmologyUniversity of Tübingen, Germany
- SS15
- Observational CosmologyUniversity of Tübingen, Germany
Organizing workshops and conferences
- 14-16 Jun 2023
- Connecting the dots Toward inspiral-merger-ringdown gravitational waveforms beyond general relativity
Part of organizing committee and involved in Gravity Theory Trust proposal for financial support.
Albert Einstein Institute, Germany
- 21-28 Apr 2021
- Current challenges in gravitational physics WORKSHOP
Part of organizing committee.
SISSA (online), Italy
Commitments in the organization of regular group meetings and journal clubs
- WS22 - now
- Waveform systematics working groupOrganizing the activities of the internal working group on waveform systematics. Albert Einstein Institute, Germany
- WS20-WS21
- IFPU Journal ClubBi-weekly journal club connecting the host institutes in the area of Trieste. IFPU, Italy
- SS20-WS20
- ERC GRAMS Group MeetingsWeekly group meetings/journal club of the ERC GRAMS group. SISSA, Italy
- WS17/18-SS19
- TAT Group MeetingsWeekly group meetings/journal club of the theoretical astrophysics group. University of Tübingen, Germany
- Email
- sebastian.voelkel@aei.mpg.de
- Address
- Sebastian Völkel
Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
Am Mühlenberg 1
14476 Potsdam
Germany