Successful PhD defense for Jan-Menno Memmen

The ZARM scientist conducted his research in the working group of theoretical gravitational physics.

Black holes got their name from the fact that no light, and also no other information, can escape from their interiors. If we are lucky, there is a light source near a black hole and the influence of the black hole on the radiation from this source gives us important information
on the black hole. In his Doctoral Thesis entitled “Influence of the spin on the radiation of a spinning emitter orbiting compact objects” Jan-Menno Memmen investigated the radiation from an extended light source that orbits a black hole. On may think of a neutron star or of a “hot spot”, i.e.,
a bright and dense clump of matter in an accretion disc. In particular, the influence of the spin of the light source on the radiation was considered which had not been done previously in such a detailed way. The investigation was done, as far as possible, fully analytically, i.e., without resorting to numerics. It is particularly remarkable that Jan-Menno managed to complete this challenging task in less than three years. We congratulate him on this important step in his professional life and we have no doubt that his further academic career will be equally successful.

What Jan-Menno will remember about his PhD time at ZARM: "That I had a lot of fun. Even though there were one or two hurdles at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, it was a wonderful experience that I wouldn't miss for anything!"