REU Site: Undergraduate Research in Gravitational-Wave Astrophysics

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This award support the Research Experience for Undergraduates located at the California Institute of Technology, with research also taking place at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) sites in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford, Washington. The site supports ten students for ten weeks of summer research per year, with projects focusing on research in the detection of gravitational radiation from astrophysical sources, including laser interferometry, optical components, electronics, servo controls, complex mechanical systems, data analysis techniques, astrophysical source modeling, and numerical relativity. REU participants work closely with individual LIGO scientists on projects involving many aspects of detector hardware development, data analysis, and source modeling. The students are able to make real and lasting contributions in a research experience at the forefront of observational astrophysics. Students interact with scientists of all ages, so they can learn about today's career options in science in addition to the science itself. The RET component of this proposal involves high school teachers that are local to the LIGO sites in rural Washington and Louisiana. RET participants take part in research projects alongside the REU students at the sites, and they also work on creating classroom activities that bring the foundations of LIGO science to their own students. This site is supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program, and by the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities in the Math and Physical Sciences Directorate in conjunction with the Physics Division.