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Dr Alexander Jenkins

I'm a theoretical physicist, working at the interface between cosmology, high-energy physics, and quantum matter. My research looks at new ways of probing the fundamental laws of Nature, whether that's using gravitational waves as cosmic messengers, or using quantum technologies to simulate the early Universe.

I'm currently based at the University of Cambridge, where I hold the Gavin Boyle Fellowship in Cosmology at the Kavli Institute for Cosmology (KICC) and the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP). I am also supported by an EPSRC Stephen Hawking Fellowship, and am a Fellow of Selwyn College.

Much of my current work focuses on vacuum decay, a fascinating quantum-mechanical phenomenon that is a ubiquitous feature of early-Universe cosmology. As a member of the Quantum Simulators for Fundamental Physics (QSimFP) Consortium, I am helping to develop laboratory experiments that will empirically test our understanding of vacuum decay for the first time. These experiments could have important and far-reaching implications for areas ranging from inflation and the multiverse to the stability of the Higgs field.

Another key focus of my research is gravitational-wave astronomy. I am particularly interested in using gravitational-wave observations to probe cosmology and fundamental physics, for example by searching for signals generated in the very early Universe, or by using gravitational-wave sources as tracers of cosmic structure formation. In 2023 I was awarded a Buchalter Cosmology Prize (2nd prize) for my work on detecting gravitational waves via their effect on binary systems.

I was previously a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Cosmoparticle Initiative at University College London (2021-2024). I did my PhD in Theoretical Physics at King's College London (2017-2021), and my MA and MSci in Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge (2013-2017).

Publications

Prospects for observing and localizing gravitational-wave transients with Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA.
BP Abbott, R Abbott, TD Abbott, S Abraham, F Acernese, K Ackley, C Adams, VB Adya, C Affeldt, M Agathos, K Agatsuma, N Aggarwal, OD Aguiar, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, T Akutsu, G Allen, A Allocca, MA Aloy, PA Altin, A Amato, A Ananyeva, SB Anderson, WG Anderson et al.
– Living Reviews in Relativity
(2020)
23,
3
(doi: 10.1007/s41114-020-00026-9)
GW190521: A Binary Black Hole Merger with a Total Mass of 150 M
R Abbott, TD Abbott, S Abraham, F Acernese, K Ackley, C Adams, RX Adhikari, VB Adya, C Affeldt, M Agathos, K Agatsuma, N Aggarwal, OD Aguiar, A Aich, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, S Akcay, G Allen, A Allocca, PA Altin, A Amato, S Anand, A Ananyeva, SB Anderson et al.
– Physical review letters
(2020)
125,
101102
(doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.101102)
Properties and Astrophysical Implications of the 150 M Binary Black Hole Merger GW190521
R Abbott, TD Abbott, S Abraham, F Acernese, K Ackley, C Adams, RX Adhikari, VB Adya, C Affeldt, M Agathos, K Agatsuma, N Aggarwal, OD Aguiar, A Aich, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, S Akcay, G Allen, A Allocca, PA Altin, A Amato, S Anand, A Ananyeva, SB Anderson et al.
– Astrophysical Journal Letters
(2020)
900,
l13
(doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/aba493)
Properties and astrophysical implications of the 150 Msun binary black hole merger GW190521
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, R Abbott, TD Abbott, S Abraham, F Acernese, K Ackley, C Adams, RX Adhikari, VB Adya, C Affeldt, M Agathos, K Agatsuma, N Aggarwal, OD Aguiar, A Aich, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, S Akcay, G Allen, A Allocca, PA Altin, A Amato, S Anand et al.
(2020)
(doi: 10.48550/arxiv.2009.01190)
GW190521: A Binary Black Hole Merger with a Total Mass of $150 ~ M_{\odot}$
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, R Abbott, TD Abbott, S Abraham, F Acernese, K Ackley, C Adams, RX Adhikari, VB Adya, C Affeldt, M Agathos, K Agatsuma, N Aggarwal, OD Aguiar, A Aich, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, S Akcay, G Allen, A Allocca, PA Altin, A Amato, S Anand et al.
(2020)
(doi: 10.48550/arxiv.2009.01075)
Prospects for fundamental physics with LISA
E Barausse, E Berti, T Hertog, SA Hughes, P Jetzer, P Pani, TP Sotiriou, N Tamanini, H Witek, K Yagi, N Yunes, T Abdelsalhin, A Achucarro, K van Aelst, N Afshordi, S Akcay, L Annulli, KG Arun, I Ayuso, V Baibhav, T Baker, H Bantilan, T Barreiro, C Barrera-Hinojosa, N Bartolo et al.
– General Relativity and Gravitation
(2020)
52,
81
(doi: 10.1007/s10714-020-02691-1)
GW190412: Observation of a binary-black-hole coalescence with asymmetric masses
R Abbott, TD Abbott, S Abraham, F Acernese, K Ackley, C Adams, RX Adhikari, VB Adya, C Affeldt, M Agathos, K Agatsuma, N Aggarwal, OD Aguiar, A Aich, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, S Akcay, G Allen, A Allocca, PA Altin, A Amato, S Anand, A Ananyeva, SB Anderson et al.
– Physical Review D
(2020)
102,
043015
(doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.102.043015)
Gravitational-wave constraints on the equatorial ellipticity of millisecond pulsars
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, R Abbott, TD Abbott, S Abraham, F Acernese, K Ackley, A Adams, C Adams, RX Adhikari, VB Adya, C Affeldt, M Agathos, K Agatsuma, N Aggarwal, OD Aguiar, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, G Allen, A Allocca, PA Altin, A Amato, S Anand, A Ananyeva et al.
(2020)
(doi: 10.48550/arxiv.2007.14251)
Primordial black holes from cusp collapse on cosmic strings
AC Jenkins, M Sakellariadou
(2020)
(doi: 10.48550/arxiv.2006.16249)
GW190814: Gravitational Waves from the Coalescence of a 23 Solar Mass Black Hole with a 2.6 Solar Mass Compact Object
R Abbott, TD Abbott, S Abraham, F Acernese, K Ackley, C Adams, RX Adhikari, VB Adya, C Affeldt, M Agathos, K Agatsuma, N Aggarwal, OD Aguiar, A Aich, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, S Akcay, G Allen, A Allocca, PA Altin, A Amato, S Anand, A Ananyeva, SB Anderson et al.
– Astrophysical Journal Letters
(2020)
896,
L44
(doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ab960f)
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Relativity and Gravitation

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01223 765317

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