Georgios Vasilopoulos

Astrophysicist at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Astrape

This page contains information about the ASTRAPE project, which has been awarded funding by H.F.R.I. (118.800,00 €). Since February 2023, I have had the pleasure to lead a small but dynamic group at Athens that aims to study super-Eddington Accretion in compact objects. Our 2-year journey has just started, and we plan to venture into the study of Ultra-luminous X-ray Pulsars and highly magnetized Neutron Stars.

Local Team Members (UOA/IASA):

  • Georgios Vasilopoulos (PI)
  • Marios Kouzis (MSc student)
  • Despina Karavola (PhD student)
  • Maria Petropoulou (Assistant Prof.; collaborator)
  • Fillipos Koliopanos (Post-Doc; former member)
  • Sotiris Karaferias (Undergrad student; former member)

External Collaborators:

  • Brent West (Prof.; United States Naval Academy, USA)
  • Joern Wilms (Prof.; Karl Remeis Observatory, DE)
  • Jakob Stierhof (PhD student; Karl Remeis Observatory, DE)
  • Ekaterina Sokolova-Lapa (Post-Doc; Karl Remeis Observatory, DE)
  • Gaurava Kumar Jaisawal (Post-Doc; DTU space, DK)
  • Peter Jenke (Research scientist; University of Alabama in Huntsville)

Outcomes of the project ... so far

Publication list


List of publications with PI contribution; For details see Research tab
  1. Spectral Studies of Super-Eddington Accreting Neutron Stars in the Magellanic Clouds [Vasilopoulos et al. in press]
  2. Broadband study of the Be X-ray binary RX J0520.5-6932 during its outburst in 2024 [Yang et al. in press]
  3. Searching for Hadronic Signatures in the Time Domain of Blazar Emission: The Case of Mrk 501 [Chatzis et al. 2024, Univ, 10, 392]
  4. The high energy X-ray probe (HEX-P): the most powerful jets through the lens of a superb X-ray eye [Marcotulli et al. 2024, FraSS, 1190057]
  5. TeV pion bumps in the gamma-ray spectra of flaring blazars [Petropoulou et al. 2024, A&A, 685A, 110]
  6. eRASSU J060839.5-704014: A double degenerate ultra-compact binary in the direction of the LMC [Maitra et al. 2024, A&A, 683A, 21]
  7. Application of neural networks to synchro-Compton blazar emission models [Tzavellas et al. 2024, A&A, 683A, 185]
  8. LeHaMoC: A versatile time-dependent lepto-hadronic modeling code for high-energy astrophysical sources [Staphopoulos et al. 2024, A&A, 683A, 225]
  9. Theoretical Analysis of the RX J0209.6-7427 X-ray Spectrum During Giant Outburst [West et al. 2024, ApJ, 966L, 5]
  10. The Luminosity Phase Space of Galactic and Extragalactic X-Ray Transients Out to Intermediate Redshifts [Polzin et al. 2023, ApJ, 959,75]
  11. The high energy X-ray probe (HEX-P): a new window into neutron star accretion [Ludlam et al. 2023, FrASS, 1092500]
  12. The high energy X-ray probe (HEX-P): studying extreme accretion with ultraluminous X-ray sources [Bachetti et al. 2023, FrASS, 1089432]
  13. Constraining the Evolution of the Unstable Accretion Disk in SMC X-1 with NICER [Brumback et al. 2023 ApJ, 953, 89B]
  14. On the cyclotron absorption line and evidence of the spectral transition in SMC X-2 during 2022 giant outburst [Jaisawal et al. 2023 MNRAS, 521, 3951]
  15. A shared accretion instability for black holes and neutron stars [Vincentelli et al. 2023 Natur, 615, 45]
  16. A Bayesian approach for torque modelling of BeXRB pulsars with application to super-Eddington accretors [Karaferias et al. 2023 MNRAS, 520, 281]

Conferenses, Seminars & Workshops

  1. IAASARS Seminar, NOA, Athens, GR, 25 September 2024, Invited Seminar talk (GV)

  2. BeXRB2024, [Cape Town, 31st Jul. - 2nd Aug. 2024]
    • Spectral studies of super-Eddington accreting Neutron Stars in the Magellanic Clouds, GV et al.
    • Decades of Optical Variability of SMC BeXRBs, Treiber H.; GV et al.

  3. The X-ray Mysteries of Neutron Stars and White Dwarfs, ESAC Madrid, 5-7 June 2024
    4. Contributions:
    • Disk torque models in comparison, Stierhof, J.; GV et al.
    • Evolution of a 30-yr-duration post-nova pulsating supersoft source in the Large Magellanic Cloud, GV et al.
    • Spectral studies of super-Eddington accreting Neutron Stars in the Magellanic Clouds, GV et al.
    • The population of high-mass X-ray binaries in the LMC detected during the first eROSITA all-sky survey, Kaltenbrunner, D. et al.
    • The population of X-ray binaries in the Magellanic system detected during the eROSITA all-sky survey, Maitra C.; et al.

  4. 1st XRISM science performance and data analysis Workshop [Geneva, 12-14 February 2024]
    • Preparation for XRISM proposals

  5. APC, Paris, FR, 28 Nov 2023, Invited Seminar talk (GV)

  6. Purdue, IN, USA, 28 Aug 2023, Invited Seminar talk (GV)

  7. The 16th Hellenic Astronomical Conference [Athens, 23-28 June 2023]
    8. Contributions:
    • From BeXRBs to ULXPs: connecting the “dots”; talk by GV
    • Application of neural networks to spectral fitting of extragalactic jet emission; Poster, GV et al.

  8. The X-ray Universe 2023" Symposium [Athens, Greece, 13-16 June 2023]
    9. Contributions:
    • "From BeXRBs to ULXPs: connecting the “dots”; talk by Georgios Vasilopoulos
    • The SMC BeXRB Zoo: patterns of optical variability as seen by OGLE (Poster)
    • The High Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P): Broadband studies of ultraluminous X-ray sources (Poster)
    • The High Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P): the most powerful jets through the lens of a superb X-ray eye (Poster)
    • The High Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P): Probing the Power of Accreting Compact Objects (Poster)

  9. X-ray Tracking of Magnetic Field Geometries in Accreting X-ray Pulsars (XMAG Workshop), Madrid, Spain, 16-17 Feb 2023, Invited talk (GV)