Physicists observationally confirm Hawking’s black hole theorem for the first time
Study offers evidence, based on gravitational waves, to show that the total area of a black hole’s event horizon can never decrease.
Three from MIT receive 2021 Hertz Foundation Fellowships
The five-year award aims to empower “the most promising innovators in science and technology.”
LIGO and Virgo detect rare mergers of black holes with neutron stars for the first time
In a 3Q, Salvatore Vitale describes how gravitational-wave signals suggest black holes completely devoured their companion neutron stars.
Four researchers earn interdisciplinary Schmidt Science Fellowships
Selective global honor supports early-career scientists and engineers in taking on new pursuits.
Physicists bring human-scale object to near standstill, reaching a quantum state
The results open possibilities for studying gravity’s effects on relatively large objects in quantum states.
Fast-spinning black holes narrow the search for dark matter particles
Certain ultralight bosons would be expected to put the brakes on black holes, but new results show no such slowdown.
A technique to sift out the universe’s first gravitational waves
Identifying primordial ripples would be key to understanding the conditions of the early universe.
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.
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.
Provably exact artificial intelligence for nuclear and particle physics
MIT-led team uses AI and machine learning to explore fundamental forces.
School of Science appoints 12 faculty members to named professorships
Those selected for these positions receive additional support to pursue their research and develop their careers.
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.
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.
National Science Foundation announces MIT-led Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions
IAIFI will advance physics knowledge — from the smallest building blocks of nature to the largest structures in the universe — and galvanize AI research innovation.
Are we still listening to space?
Despite the planet’s seeming standstill, graduate students continue to use LIGO to identify astrophysical events.