LIGO Scientists Awarded New Horizons in Physics Prize

Today, three LIGO scientists were awarded the 2019 New Horizons in Physics prize “for research on present and future ground-based detectors of gravitational waves.”

Lisa Barsotti (Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Kavli Institute), Matthew Evans (Associate Professor of Physics at MIT), and Rana Adhikari (Professor of Physics at Caltech) will share this year’s prize. All three are key members LIGO’s collaboration.

Lisa Barsotti, Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Kavli Institute

Caltech Professor of Physics, Rana Adhikari

MIT Associate Professor of Physics, Matthew Evans

This is the seventh year that Breakthrough Prizes have been awarded. According to their website, “The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was founded in 2012 by Yuri Milner to recognize those individuals who have made profound contributions to human knowledge. The … Prize aims to celebrate the best scientific work and inspire the next generation of scientists.”

Given the discoveries that LIGO has already made, and the promise of many more to come, the award was well deserved. All of LIGO and its collaborators congratulate their colleagues on this exciting recognition.