Black Hole Researchers Make Progress in Gravitational Wave Research

UM-led scientists discover nonlinear elements enhance computational models

OXFORD, Miss. – Finding a needle in a haystack might prove easier than finding the most accurate measure of gravitational waves, telltale ripples in space-time created when massive black holes crash into each other. Yet a University of Mississippi physicist and his team have made significant advances in that direction. Leo Chaim Stein, UM assistantRead the story …

Physics Alumnus Wins International Award for Gravitational Wave Thesis

Hector Okada da Silva will receive the GWIC-Braccini Thesis Prize in Spain

OXFORD, Miss. – A University of Mississippi physics alumnus has been selected to receive an international honor for his doctoral dissertation on gravitational wave research. Hector Okada da Silva, of Belém, Brazil, will be presented the 2017 Gravitational Wave International Committee-Braccini Thesis Prize for “Compact Objects in Relativistic Theories of Gravity.” The honor includes aRead the story …

Truth of Black Holes Topic of April Science Cafe

UM physicist Leo Stein to discuss deep-space phenomena

OXFORD, Miss. – The latest observations about the deep-space phenomena of black holes is the topic for a monthly public science forum organized by the University of Mississippi Department of Physics and Astronomy. The spring semester’s final meeting of the Oxford Science Cafe is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday (April 9) at Uptown Coffee, 265Read the story …

UM Establishes Center for Researching Multi-messenger Astrophysics

Emergent scientific field arose from discovery of gravitational waves

OXFORD, Miss. – Riding a new frontier of scientific discovery into gravitational waves, the University of Mississippi is now home to the Center for Multi-messenger Astrophysics. The center was launched Nov. 1 after the center’s creation was approved by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning in August. It will allow UM researchers to play a prominent roleRead the story …

Students Study Physics During UM Spring Break Visit

Project prepares high school students for AP Physics

OXFORD, Miss. – It was probably the first time Yung Bleu’s hip-hop had been used to teach physics. Yet, in Marco Cavaglia’s University of Mississippi classroom during spring break, the artist’s music played, causing the electronic waves of an oscilloscope to bounce and jiggle with the vibrations of the music. Huddled around the oscilloscope, learning about gravitationalRead the story …

Scientists Detect Gravitational Waves Produced by Colliding Neutron Stars

Joint LIGO-Virgo discovery marks first cosmic event observed in both gravitational waves and light

OXFORD, Miss. – For the first time, scientists have directly detected gravitational waves – ripples in space and time – in addition to light from the spectacular collision of two neutron stars. This marks the first time that a cosmic event has been viewed in both gravitational waves and light. The discovery was made usingRead the story …

UM Physicists Celebrate Nobel Prize-Winning Discovery

Historic gravitational wave observation made in 2015 recognized as breakthrough in modern physics

OXFORD, Miss. – Physics researchers at the University of Mississippi are elated over news that colleagues involved in the groundbreaking discovery of gravitational waves in 2015 were awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday (Oct. 3). Rainer Weiss, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Kip Thorne and Barry Barish, both ofRead the story …