Rainer Weiss
Rainer "Rai" Weiss (/waɪs/ WYSSE, German: [vaɪs]; born September 29, 1932) is a German-born American physicist, known for his contributions in gravitational physics and astrophysics. He is a professor of physics emeritus at MIT and an adjunct professor at LSU. He is best known for inventing the laser interferometric technique which is the basic operation of LIGO. He was Chair of the COBE Science Working Group.
Rainer Weiss | |
|---|---|
Weiss in June 2018 | |
| Born | September 29, 1932 |
| Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS, PhD) |
| Known for | Pioneering laser interferometric gravitational wave observation |
| Awards | Einstein Prize (2007) Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2016) Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2016) Shaw Prize (2016) Kavli Prize (2016) Harvey Prize (2016) Princess of Asturias Award (2017) Nobel Prize in Physics (2017) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics Laser physics Experimental gravitation Cosmic background measurements |
| Institutions | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Princeton University Tufts University |
| Thesis | Stark Effect and Hyperfine Structure of Hydrogen Fluoride (1962) |
| Doctoral advisor | Jerrold R. Zacharias |
| Doctoral students | Nergis Mavalvala Philip K. Chapman Rana X. Adhikari |
| Other notable students | Bruce Allen Sarah Veatch |
In 2017, Weiss was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Kip Thorne and Barry Barish, "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves".
Weiss has helped realize a number of challenging experimental tests of fundamental physics. He is a member of the Fermilab Holometer experiment, which uses a 40m laser interferometer to measure properties of space and time at quantum scale and provide Planck-precision tests of quantum holographic fluctuation.