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Nature Names 海角社区 Physicist Gabriela Gonz谩lez Among Top 10 Scientists of the Year

BATON ROUGE 鈥� 海角社区 Department of Physics & Astronomy Professor Gabriela Gonz谩lez has been named one of the by the scientific journal Nature.

Gonz谩lez serves as the spokesperson for the 1,000-member international LIGO Scientific Collaboration. LIGO, which stands for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, detected the gravitational waves in 2015 predicted by Albert Einstein鈥檚 Theory of General Relativity, and opened a new window of discovery to the cosmos. 

In addition to being named among the world's top 10 scientists by Nature, Gonz谩lez was named Scientist of the Year by Great Minds in STEM, and one of the top 100 Leading Global Thinkers by for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. She was also awarded the highest distinction from the Senate of Argentina, the Honorable Domingo Faustino Sarmiento award. On behalf of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, she received the 2016 Breakthrough of the Year from for 鈥渢heir revolutionary, first ever direct observations of gravitational waves.鈥�

Gonz谩lez is an experimental physicist with LIGO and a professor in the 海角社区 Department of Physics and Astronomy. Her research involves the reduction of noise to enhance the instrument鈥檚 sensitivity to detect potential gravitational waves, calibrate the detectors and analyze data.

Years of research and hard work came to fruition with the detection of a single ripple in the fabric of space-time on Sept. 14, 2015. At 4:50:45 a.m., the LIGO Livingston Observatory in Livingston, La., detected a signal of a gravitational wave. Nearly 7 milliseconds later, another identical signal reached the LIGO Hanford facility in Hanford, Wash., confirming the signal and the presence of gravitational waves in the universe. 

This particular wave occurred as a result of two black holes colliding with each other nearly 1.3 billion years ago. In the final fraction of a second of the collision, a large amount of energy was emitted in the form of gravitational waves and spread out through the universe and reached Earth on that fateful September morning.

The signal depicted by data as a chirp is a symphony of opportunity for the evolving field of gravitational wave science. Not only did Gonz谩lez and her collaborators confirm the general theory of relativity that Albert Einstein predicted a century ago, but they also have opened up countless opportunities for a new age of scientific discovery. In fact, this discovery is so groundbreaking, Einstein himself doubted scientists would ever be able to physically measure and record these waves. But, with their dedication and passion for understanding the universe, Gonz谩lez and the LIGO scientists did just that. 

鈥淲e know now that we are not only doing astronomy in a new way, but we are pushing the edge of the technology, and we are inspiring a new generation of scientists,鈥� Gonz谩lez said.

On Dec. 26, 2015, at 03:38:53 UTC, LIGO scientists observed gravitational waves 鈥� ripples in the fabric of spacetime 鈥� for the second time. During the merger, which occurred approximately 1.4 billion years ago, a quantity of energy roughly equivalent to the mass of the sun was converted into gravitational waves. The detected signal comes from the last 27 orbits of the black holes before their merger. Based on the arrival time of the signals鈥攚ith the Livingston detector measuring the waves 1.1 milliseconds before the Hanford detector鈥攖he position of the source in the sky can be roughly determined. 

Gonz谩lez was born and raised in C贸rdoba, Argentina. She studied physics at the University of C贸rdoba, where she earned a Master of Science degree. She came to the U.S. to pursue and attain her Ph.D. from Syracuse University. Her doctorate focused on Brownian motion and gravitational waves. Her work took her to universities across the U.S. including MIT, Penn State and 海角社区. She has been the spokesperson for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration for the past five years.

 

Additional Links:

Gravitational Wave Science FAQ & Media Assets

Gravitational Waves Detected 100 Years After Einstein鈥檚 Prediction

Gravitational Waves Detected from Second Pair of Colliding Black Holes

 

 

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Contact Alison Satake
海角社区 Media Relations
225-578-3870
asatake@lsu.edu 

or

Mimi LaValle
海角社区 Department of Physics and Astronomy
225-578-2261
mlavall@lsu.edu