3 Questions: Hsin-Yu Chen on treading lightly when dating the universe

MIT postdoc finds the angle at which we view neutron star collisions could significantly impact age measurements.

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Designing new mirror materials for better gravitational-wave detection

Nicholas Demos, a first-generation college graduate and MathWorks Fellow in MIT’s Kavli Institute, is improving our ability to listen to the cosmos.

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Provably exact artificial intelligence for nuclear and particle physics

MIT-led team uses AI and machine learning to explore fundamental forces.

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An unexpected origin story for a lopsided black hole merger

Researchers suggest a novel process to explain the collision of a large black hole and a much smaller one.

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A “bang” in LIGO and Virgo detectors signals most massive gravitational-wave source yet

A binary black hole merger likely produced gravitational waves equal to the energy of eight suns.

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Are we still listening to space?

Despite the planet’s seeming standstill, graduate students continue to use LIGO to identify astrophysical events.

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Portable system boosts laser precision, at room temperature

“Light squeezer” reduces quantum noise in lasers, could enhance quantum computing and gravitational-wave detection.

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physics astrophysics space astronomy quantum-computing light research school-of-science national-science-foundation-nsf kavli-institute ligo astronomy-and-planetary-science

Quantum fluctuations can jiggle objects on the human scale

Study shows LIGO’s 40-kilogram mirrors can move in response to tiny quantum effects, revealing the “spooky popcorn of the universe.”

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physics astrophysics space astronomy research school-of-science national-science-foundation-nsf kavli-institute ligo astronomy-and-planetary-science

Capturing stardust

Danielle Frostig, a physics graduate student, is developing an instrument to study how the heaviest elements in the universe are produced.

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New instrument extends LIGO’s reach

Technology “squeezes” out quantum noise so more gravitational wave signals can be detected.

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