Research

I am working with theoretical radiative transfer simulations using Monte Carlo techniques. In my previous work I applied those methods to the generation and transport of radiation through the material ejected in stellar explosions (supernovae); now I apply similar methods to investigate the interaction of radiation with constituents of the Earth's atmosphere.

The Helmholtz-University Young Investigators Group AerCARE aims to study the impacts of elevated aerosol layers in the atmosphere on the Earth's climate. In recent work I used the radiative transfer package libRadtran and the Monte Carlo code MYSTIC to study the impact of Saharan mineral dust and biomass burning aerosol from bush fires on the African continent on the atmosphere. We also recently investigated the visibility of potentially hazardous volcanic ash layers in the atmosphere from an aircraft's flight deck.

Publications:

→ Articles in peer-reviewed journals

  • On the visibility of airborne volcanic ash and mineral dust from the pilot's perspective in flight
    B. Weinzierl, D. N. Sauer, A. Minikin, O. Reitebuch, F. Dahlkötter, B. Mayer, C. Emde, I. Tegen, J. Gasteiger, A. Petzold, A. Veira, U. Kueppers and U. Schumann, 2012, Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, submitted
  • Microphysical and optical properties of dust and tropical biomass burning aerosol layers in the Cape Verde region - An overview of the airborne in situ and lidar measurements during SAMUM-2
    B. Weinzierl, D. N. Sauer, M. Esselborn, A. Petzold, A. Veira, M. Rose, S. Mund, M. Wirth, A. Ansmann, M. Tesche, S. Groß, V. Freudenthaler, 2011, Tellus B 63, 589 DOI:10.1111/j.1600-0889.2011.00566.x
  • Helium shell detonations on low mass white dwarfs as a possible explanation for SN 2005E
    R. Waldman, D. N. Sauer, E. Livne, H. Perets, A. Glasner, P. Mazzali, J. W. Truran, A. Gal-Yam, 2011, ApJ, 738, 21 DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/738/1/21
  • Direct Confirmation of the Asymmetry of the Cas A Supernova with Light Echoes
    A. Rest , R. J. Foley , B. Sinnott , D. L. Welch , C. Badenes, A. V. Filippenko, M. Bergmann, W. A. Bhatti, S. Blondin, P. Challis, G. Damke, H. Finley, M. E. Huber, D. Kasen, R. P. Kirshner, T. Matheson, P. Mazzali, D. Minniti, R. Nakajima, G. Narayan, K. Olsen, D. Sauer, R. C. Smith, N. B. Suntzeff, 2011, ApJ, 732, 3 DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/732/1/3 (arxiv:1003:5660)
  • Fallback Supernovae: Possible Origin of Peculiar Supernovae with Extremely Low Explosion Energies
    T. Moriya, N. Tominaga, M. Tanaka, K. Nomoto, D. N. Sauer, P. A. Mazzali, K. Maeda, T. Suzuki, 2010, ApJ, 719, 1445, DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/719/2/1445 (arxiv:1006.5336)
  • Variable Sodium Absorption in a Low-extinction Type Ia Supernova
    J.D. Simon, A. Gal-Yam, O. Gnat, R.M. Quimby, M. Ganeshalingam, J.M. Silverman, S. Blondin, W. Li, A.V. Filippenko, J.C. Wheeler, R.P. Kirshner, F. Patat, P. Nugent, R.J. Foley, S.S. Vogt, R.P. Butler, K.M.G. Peek, E. Rosolowsky, G.J. Herczeg, D.N. Sauer and P.A. Mazzali, 2009, ApJ, 702, 1157, DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/702/2/1157
  • Properties of the ultraviolet flux of type Ia supernovae: an analysis with synthetic spectra of SN 2001ep and SN 2001eh
    D.N. Sauer, P.A. Mazzali, S. Blondin, M. Stehle, S. Benetti, P. Challis, A.V. Filippenko, R.P. Kirshner, W. Li, T. Matheson, 2008, MNRAS, 391, 1605, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14018.x (arxiv:0803.0871)
  • The Metamorphosis of Supernova SN 2008D/XRF 080109: A Link Between Supernovae and GRBs/Hypernovae
    P.A. Mazzali, S. Valenti, M. Della Valle, G. Chincarini, D.N. Sauer, S. Benetti, E. Pian, T. Piran, V. D'Elia, N. Elias-Rosa, R. Margutti, F. Pasotti, L. Angelo Antonelli, F. Bufano, S. Campana, E. Cappellaro, S. Covino, P. D'Avanzo, F. Fiore, D. Fugazza, R. Gilmozzi, D. Hunter, K. Maguire, E. M., P. Marziani, N. Masetti, F. Mirabel, H. Navasardyan, K. Nomoto, E. Palazzi, A. Pastorello, N. Panagia, L. J. Pellizza, R., S. Smartt, G. Tagliaferri, M. Tanaka, S. Taubenberger, N. Tominaga, C. Trundle, and M. Turatto, 2008, Science, 321, 1185, DOI:10.1126/science.1158088
  • Interpretation of observed type Ia supernova spectra with radiative transfer models
    D.N. Sauer and P.A. Mazzali, 2008, New Astronomy Reviews, 52, 370, DOI:10.1016/j.newar.2008.06.023
  • Abundance stratification in Type Ia Supernovae - II: The rapidly declining, spectroscopically normal SN 2004eo
    P.A. Mazzali, D.N. Sauer, A. Pastorello, S. Benetti, W. Hillebrandt, 2008, MNRAS, 386, 1897, DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13199.x (arxiv:0803.1383)
  • The carbon-rich type Ic SN 2007gr: the photospheric phase
    S. Valenti, N. Elias-Rosa, S. Taubenberger, V. Stanishev, I. Agnoletto, D.N. Sauer, E. Cappellaro, A. Pastorello, S. Benetti, A. Riffeser, U. Hopp, H. Navasardyan, D. Tsvetkov, V. Lorenzi, F. Patat, M. Turatto, R. Barbon, S. Ciroi, F. Di Mille, S. Frandsen, J.P.U. Fynbo, P. Laursen, P.A. Mazzali, 2008, ApJ, 673, L155, DOI:10.1086/527672 (arxiv:0712.1899)
  • The Broad-lined Type Ic SN 2003jd
    S. Valenti, S. Benetti, E. Cappellaro, F. Patat, P. Mazzali, M. Turatto, K. Hurley, K. Maeda, A. Gal-Yam, R.J. Foley, A.V. Filippenko, A. Pastorello, P. Challis, F. Frontera, A. Harutyunyan, M. Iye, K. Kawabata, R. P. Kirshner, W. Li, Y. M. Lipkin, T. Matheson, K. Nomoto, E. O. Ofek, Y. Ohyama, E. Pian, D. Poznanski, M. Salvo, D.N. Sauer, B.P. Schmidt, A. Soderberg, L. Zampieri, 2008, MNRAS, 383, 1485, DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.12647.x (arXiv:0710.5173v1)
  • Light curves for off-centre ignition models of type Ia supernovae
    S.A. Sim, D.N. Sauer, F.K. Röpke, W. Hillebrandt,
    2007, MNRAS, 378, 2, DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11795.x (astro-ph/0703764)
  • Non-LTE models for synthetic spectra of type Ia supernovae / hot stars with extremely extended atmospheres
    D.N. Sauer, T.L. Hoffmann, A.W.A. Pauldrach,
    2006, A&A, 459, 229, DOI:10.1051/0004-6361:20065781 (astro-ph/0608520)
  • A neutron-star-driven X-ray flash associated with supernova SN 2006aj
    P.A. Mazzali, J. Deng, K. Nomoto, D.N. Sauer, E. Pian, N. Tominaga, M. Tanaka, K. Maeda & A.V. Filippenko
    2006, Nature, 442, 1018, DOI:10.1038/nature05081
  • An optical supernova associated with the X-ray flash XRF 060218
    E. Pian, P.A. Mazzali, N. Masetti, P. Ferrero, S. Klose, E. Palazzi, E. Ramirez-Ruiz, S.E. Woosley, C. Kouveliotou, J. Deng, A.V. Filippenko, R.J. Foley, J.P.U. Fynbo, D.A. Kann, W. Li, J. Hjorth, K. Nomoto, F. Patat, D.N. Sauer, J. Sollermann, P.M. Vreeswijk, E.W. Guenther, A. Levan, P. O'Brien, N.R. Tanvir, R.A.M.J. Wijers, C. Dumas, O. Hainaut, D.S. Wong, D. Baade, L. Wang, L. Amati, E. Cappellaro, A.J. Castro-Tirado, S. Ellison, F. Fontera, A.S. Fruchter, J. Greiner, K. Kawabata, C. Ledoux, K. Maeda, P. Moller, L. Nicastro, E. Rol & R. Starling
    2006, Nature, 442, 1011, DOI:10.1038/nature05082
  • SN 2004aw: Confirming Diversity of Type Ic Supernovae
    S. Taubenberger, A. Pastorello, P. A. Mazzali, S. Valenti, G. Pignata, D.N. Sauer, A. Arbey, O. Bärnbantner, S. Benetti, A. Della Valle, J. Deng, N. Elias-Rosa, A.V. Filippenko, R.J. Foley, A. Goobar, R. Kotak, W. Li, P. Meikle, J. Mendez, F. Patat, E. Pian, C. Ries, P. Ruiz-Lapuente, M. Salvo, V. Stanishev, M. Turatto & W. Hillebrandt
    2006, MNRAS, 371, 1459, DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10776.x (astro-ph/0607078)
  • The properties of the 'standard' type Ic supernova 1994I from spectral models
    D.N. Sauer, P.A. Mazzali, J. Deng, S. Valenti, K. Nomoto, and A.V. Filippenko,
    2006, MNRAS, 369, 1939-1948, DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10438.x, (astro-ph/0604293)
  • SN 2005cs in M51. I. The first month of evolution of a subluminous SN II plateau
    A. Pastorello, D. Sauer, S. Taubenberger, P. Mazzali, K. Nomoto, K. Kawabata, S. Benetti,N. Elias-Rosa,A. Harutyunyan, H. Navasardyan, L. Zampieri, T. Iijima, M. Botticella, M. Del Principe, M. Dolci, S. Gagliardi, M. Ragni, and G. Valentini
    2006, MNRAS, 370, 1752, DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10587.x (astro-ph/0605700)
  • Systematic Uncertainties in the Determination of the Primordial  4He Abundance
    D. Sauer & K. Jedamzik
    2002, A&A 381, 361-373, DOI:10.1051/0004-6361:20011567 (astro-ph/0104392)

→ Thesis

  • Steps toward a consistent NLTE treatment of the radiative transfer in Type Ia Supernovae
    PhD Thesis, May 2005 (official version at the TUM library)
  • Uncertainties in the Determination of the Primordial  4He Abundance
    Diploma Thesis, Dec 2000 (pdf 2.2M)

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