Sarah Vigeland
Sarah Vigeland | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sarah Jane Vigeland |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Gravitational waves Neutron stars Black holes[1] |
| Institutions | Carleton College (BA) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD) |
| Thesis | Studies of strong-field gravity : testing the black hole hypothesis and investigating spin-curvature coupling (2012) |
| Doctoral advisor | Scott A. Hughes[2] |
| Website | uwm |
Sarah Jane Vigeland is an American physicist who is a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She uses pulsar timing arrays to study the low-frequency gravitational waves from supermassive black holes.[1][3][4][5]
Early life and education
Vigeland studied physics at Carleton College where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.[2] She was a doctoral researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she studied strong-field gravity and spin-curvature coupling supervised by Scott A. Hughes.[2][6]
Research and career
Vigeland is interested in black holes and techniques for detecting gravitational waves.[7] Her early work considered high frequency gravitational waves, which she studied at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory LIGO. In 2013, Vigeland became involved with the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav), an American collaborative effort to search for gravitational waves.[8] She secured a $17m grant to support the development and sensitivity of the Green Bank Telescope, Very Large Array and Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment.[9]
In 2023, Vigeland's team at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee announced their discover of a low frequency (nanohertz) “background hum” of gravitational waves across the universe.[10][11] Their announcement was the result of fifteen years of observational astrophysics.[12] The low frequency waves originate from supermassive black holes. Black holes at the centres of galaxies merge, triggering ripples of gravitational waves that propagate through the universe. The growth and evolution of black holes are related to the growth and evolution of host galaxies.[13]
To detect low frequency gravitational waves in the form of the stochastic gravitational wave background, Vigeland uses pulsar timing arrays.[14] These look for correlations in the timing residuals of collections of rapidly spinning, millisecond pulsars.[15][14] These ultrastable pulsars are the most precise astrophysical clocks in the universe. Vigeland is a keynote speaker at the American Physical Society Global Physics Summit.[16]
Selected publications
Her publications[1][17] include:
- Evidence for alignment of the rotation and velocity vectors in pulsars[3]
- The fingerprint of a cosmos swirling with gravitational waves[4]
- Bumpy black holes in alternative theories of gravity[5]
References
- ^ a b c Sarah Vigeland publications indexed by Google Scholar
- ^ a b c Vigeland, Sarah Jane (2012). Studies of strong-field gravity : testing the black hole hypothesis and investigating spin-curvature coupling. mit.edu (PhD thesis). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. hdl:1721.1/77506. OCLC 827335798. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- ^ a b Simon Johnston; G. Hobbs; ; M. Kramer; J. M. Weisberg; A. G. Lyne (December 2005). "Evidence for alignment of the rotation and velocity vectors in pulsars". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 364 (4): 1397–1412. arXiv:astro-ph/0510260. Bibcode:2005MNRAS.364.1397J. doi:10.1111/J.1365-2966.2005.09669.X. ISSN 0035-8711. Wikidata Q62779063.
- ^ a b ; Stephen Taylor (28 November 2023). "The fingerprint of a cosmos swirling with gravitational waves". Physics Today. 2023 (11): 1128a. Bibcode:2023PhT..2023k1128V. doi:10.1063/PT.6.1.20231128A. ISSN 0031-9228. Wikidata Q132176919.
- ^ a b ; Nicolás Yunes; Leo C. Stein (16 May 2011). "Bumpy black holes in alternative theories of gravity". Physical Review D. 83 (10). arXiv:1102.3706. Bibcode:2011PhRvD..83j4027V. doi:10.1103/PHYSREVD.83.104027. ISSN 1550-7998. Wikidata Q132176938.
- ^ Sarah Vigeland at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- ^ "Revealed by Radio: The Universe Has a Gravitational Wave Background". STUDENTS. 2024-05-01. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
- ^ Schumacher, John (2023-06-29). "Celebrating a landmark NANOGrav discovery". UWM REPORT. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- ^ Otto, Laura (2021-06-21). "Funding renewed for NANOGrav center, which includes UWM". UWM REPORT. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
- ^ Otto, Laura (2023-06-30). "Scientists turn exotic stars into a galaxy-sized detector of gravitational waves". UWM REPORT. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- ^ "Evidence That Earth Is Enveloped in Slow-Rolling Sea of Gravitational Waves". SciTechDaily. 2023-08-09. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
- ^ "Colossal gravitational waves—trillions of miles long—found for the first time". Premium. 2025-02-05. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
- ^ Agazie, Gabriella; Anumarlapudi, Akash; Archibald, Anne M.; Arzoumanian, Zaven; Baker, Paul T.; Bécsy, Bence; Blecha, Laura; Brazier, Adam; Brook, Paul R.; Burke-Spolaor, Sarah; Charisi, Maria; Chatterjee, Shami; Cohen, Tyler; Cordes, James M.; Cornish, Neil J. (June 2023). "The NANOGrav 15 yr Data Set: Detector Characterization and Noise Budget". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 951 (1): L10. arXiv:2306.16218. Bibcode:2023ApJ...951L..10A. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acda88. ISSN 2041-8205.
- ^ a b "PGI Seminar Series Fall 2024| Sarah Vigeland| University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee| "Physics and Astrophysics with Nanohertz Gravitational Waves" | Department of Physics". phy.princeton.edu. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
- ^ Hodges, Julianne (2023-09-12). "Imagining the future of gravitational-wave research | symmetry magazine". symmetrymagazine.org. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
- ^ "Global Physics Summit 2025 experience". aps.org. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
- ^ Sarah Vigeland publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)