Media Advisory 19-002

Expert panel to discuss next generation gravitational wave detector

NSF and UKRI host conversation on future directions for LIGO research

a power recycling optic laser

Power recycling optic 2 at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory.


February 12, 2019

Media invited to expert panel discussing next generation gravitational wave detector

NSF and UKRI to host conversation on future directions for LIGO research

Media are invited to attend an expert panel discussion on gravitational wave detectors and the future of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel on Feb. 14. The National Science Foundation (NSF) and U.K. Research and Innovation (UKRI) will host the panel discussion and make an announcement related to the future of the LIGO detectors. LIGO made the historic discovery of gravitational waves in 2015 and its creators were awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize for physics.

What: Expert panel discussion on LIGO and next generation gravitational wave detection

Who:

  • Barry Barish, Linde Professor of Physics, emeritus Caltech, distinguished professor at the University of California, Riverside, and Nobel Laureate "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves."
  • Martin Hendry, professor of gravitational astrophysics and cosmology at the University of Glasgow and chair of the LIGO Education and Public Outreach group.
  • Mike Zucker,senior physicist, Caltech and MIT LIGO Laboratory.

When: Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, 1:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. ET (Doors open at 12:55 p.m. ET)

Where: Marriott Wardman Park, 2660 Woodley Road NW, Washington, D.C. 20008, Conference Room 8212.

RSVP: Space is limited. Registration will be on a first-come-first-serve basis. Please RSVP to Ben Seiden at Ben.Seiden@fco.gov.uk or Josh Chamot at jchamot@nsf.gov.

Panelists will discuss the future of the LIGO detectors and take questions from the media. The LIGO announcement will be under embargo until that evening at 7:00 p.m. ET.

-NSF-

Media Contacts
Joshua Chamot, NSF, 703-292-4489, email: jchamot@nsf.gov

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