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Faculty of Mathematics

 

I'm a theoretical physicist, working at the interface between cosmology, astrophysics, high-energy physics, and quantum matter. My research looks at new ways of probing the fundamental laws of Nature, whether by using gravitational waves as powerful new astronomical messengers, or by using cutting-edge 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

Binary Black Hole Population Properties Inferred from the First and Second Observing Runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo
T Ligo Scientific Collaboration, BP Abbott, 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, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, G Allen, A Allocca, MA Aloy, PA Altin, A Amato, A Ananyeva, SB Anderson et al.
– Astrophysical Journal Letters
(2019)
882,
L24
GWTC-1: A Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog of Compact Binary Mergers Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First and Second Observing Runs
BP Abbott, 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, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, G Allen, A Allocca, MA Aloy, PA Altin, A Amato, A Ananyeva, SB Anderson, WG Anderson et al.
– Physical Review X
(2019)
9,
031040
Directional limits on persistent gravitational waves using data from Advanced LIGO's first two observing runs
BP Abbott, 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, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, G Allen, A Allocca, MA Aloy, PA Altin, A Amato, A Ananyeva, SB Anderson, WG Anderson et al.
– Physical Review D
(2019)
100,
062001
Search for the isotropic stochastic background using data from Advanced LIGO's second observing run
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, G Allen, A Allocca, MA Aloy, PA Altin, A Amato, A Ananyeva, SB Anderson, WG Anderson, SV Angelova et al.
– Physical Review D
(2019)
100,
061101
Probing the gravitational wave background from cosmic strings with LISA
P Auclair, JJ Blanco-Pillado, DG Figueroa, AC Jenkins, M Lewicki, M Sakellariadou, S Sanidas, L Sousa, DA Steer, JM Wachter, S Kuroyanagi
(2019)
A guide to LIGO-Virgo detector noise and extraction of transient gravitational-wave signals
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, 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 Alford, G Allen, A Allocca, MA Aloy, PA Altin, A Amato, A Ananyeva et al.
(2019)
A gravitational-wave measurement of the Hubble constant following the second observing run of Advanced LIGO and Virgo
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, BP Abbott, 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, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, G Allen, A Allocca, MA Aloy, PA Altin, A Amato, S Anand et al.
(2019)
An Optically Targeted Search for Gravitational Waves emitted by Core-Collapse Supernovae during the First and Second Observing Runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, 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, G Allen, A Allocca, MA Aloy, PA Altin, A Amato, S Anand, A Ananyeva et al.
(2019)
Model comparison from LIGO-Virgo data on GW170817's binary components and consequences for the merger remnant
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, 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, G Allen, A Allocca, MA Aloy, PA Altin, A Amato, S Anand, A Ananyeva et al.
(2019)
Search for Eccentric Binary Black Hole Mergers with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo during their First and Second Observing Runs
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, BP Abbott, 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, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, G Allen, A Allocca, MA Aloy, PA Altin, A Amato, S Anand et al.
(2019)
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Research Group

Relativity and Gravitation

Room

BL.33

Telephone

01223 765317