Prof. Dr. Dieter Horns

Education and Employment

• 2007–present: Professor for Astroparticle Physics at the University of Hamburg
• 2004–2007: Assistant in the Astrophysics Department (group of Prof. Dr. A. Santangelo) at the University of Tübingen.
• 2001–2004: Research staff at the Max–Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, division of Prof. Dr. H. Völk.
• 1997–2000: Research staff/PhD student at the University of Hamburg (group of Prof. Dr. G. Heinzelmann)
• 1991–1997: Undergraduate student of Physics at the University of Hamburg

Leading positions

• PI and coordinator for the research building HAFUN (2024–)
• Second term as managing director of the Institut of Experimental Physics (2024–)
• Director of the graduate school Quantum Universe Research School (2022–)
• Working group convener Physics Beyond the Standard Model (H.E.S.S.) (2020–2023)
• Area coordinator (DM) and member of the steering committee of the cluster of excellence Quantum Universe  (2019–2022)
• Elected member of the national committee of Astroparticle Physics (2014–2016)
• Equal opportunity officer at the Department of Physics and deputy equal opportunity representative of the MIN faculty
• Managing director of the Institut of Experimental Physics (2012–2013)
• Member of the Executive Board of the Department of Physics (2012–2013)
• Deputy Spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Center „Particles, Strings, and the Early Universe” (2010–2014)
• Radiation Safety Commissioner of the Department of Physics (2010–)
• Chair of the Selection Committee for M.Sc. Physics students (2008–)
• Reviewer for national and international funding institutions in Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, UK, Russia
• Reviewer for a number of journals (Astrophys. Journal, NIM A, Phys. Rev. D, Journal of Physics B, Astronomy & Astrophysics, JCAP, Astroparticle Physics, Journal of Modern Optics)
• Member of the HESS, CTA, TAIGA collaboration with a number of commission memberships

Fields of Research

• High Energy Astrophysics (X-rays, gamma-rays, observation and phenomenology)
• Instrumentation for gamma-ray telescopes: Imaging and non-imaging air shower detection
• Astroparticle Physics (Cosmic-Rays, Dark Matter Searches)
• Phenomenology and searches for ultra-light particles (e.g, Axion-like particles)
• Low background single photon detection

Selected recent publications (2012-2017):

1. D. Horns, M. Meyer Indications for a pair-production anomaly from the propagation of VHE gamma-rays, JCAP, 02, 33, 2012
2. H.S. Zechlin, D. Horns Unidentified sources in the Fermi-LAT second source catalog: the case for DM subhaloes, JCAP, 11, 50, 2012
3. D. Horns, L. Maccione, M. Meyer, A. Mirizzi, D. Montanino, M. Roncadelli, Hardening of TeV gamma spectrum of active galactic nuclei in galaxy clusters by conversion of photons into axionlike particles, PRD, 86, id 075024, 2012
4. D. Horns et al. Hardening of TeV gamma spectrum of active galactic nuclei in galaxy clusters by conversions of photons into axionlike particles Phys. Rev. D. 86, 5024, 2012
5. H.S. Zechlin, D. Horns Unidentified sources in the Fermi-LAT second source catalog: the case for DM subhalos, JCAP 11, 50, 2012
6. D. Horns,. J. Jaeckel, A. Lindner, A. Lobanov, J. Redondo, A. Ringwald Searching for WISPy cold dark matter with a dish antenna, JCAP, 04, 016, 2013
7. M. Meyer, D. Horns, M. Raue First lower limit on the photon-axion-like particle coupling from very high energy gamma-ray observations Phys. Rev. D. 87, 5027, 2013.
8. J. Ripken et al. The sensitivity of Cherenkov telescopes to dark matter and astrophysical anisotropies in diffuse gamma-ray background JCAP 01, 049 2014.
9. D. Horns, A. Jacholkowska Gamma-rays as probes of the Universe Comptes rendus Physique, 17, 632 (2016)
10. A. Gewering-Peine, D. Horns, J.H.M.M. Schmitt A sensitive search for unknown spectral emission lines in the diffuse X-ray background with XMM-Newton accepted for publication in JCAP 2017

Bibliometric data (Google Scholar):

51900 citations, h-index: 116

Supervision summary (since 2007):

32 Supervised B.Sc.-students
44 Supervised Diploma/M.Sc.
22 Supervised PhD students
13 PostDocs trained

Hamburg, June-9 2017